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Learning The Oktoberfest Lingo: The Wiesn Dictionary

So, you’re headed off to the world’s largest beer fest. Your bags are packed, your accommodation sorted, your route planned (tent-walk-fest-stagger-tent).

You’ve made your beer tent reservations, large and small, and you’ve packed some liver-boosters to help your body cope with your planned multiple-beer-tasting experience.

But there is a flaw in your cunning plan. You speak no Bavarian, nor do you have a friend who does.

Chances are, by the end of Oktoberfest, you’ll have made many many Bavarian friends and magically understand almost every word they utter (such is the power of several litres of Bavarian beverage). But it’s just as well to learn a few useful words of the Germanic tongue before you get there, to help you on your merry stein-swigging way.

Enter the Wiesn Dictionary, a handy little online dictionary thoughtfully provided by the official Oktoberfest website.

Learn useful words like ‘aufstöin’ (v.) – to ‘donate a beer’, ‘Dampf’ (n.) – the ‘intoxication which occurs after some Maß beer’ or ‘Drahwuam’ (n.) – the giddiness which occurs after constant spinning, (primarily after Oktoberfest carousel-rides).

Linguistically empowered, you can now indulge in sub-table activities like toe-to-toe ‘fuaßln’ with a beautiful ‘Gaudinockerln’ or perhaps a friendly ‘Grischbal’ and the hot passionate ‘gamsig’ which is more than likely to follow.

Related articles:
“Oktoberfest: Two Weeks Of Binge Beer Drinking in Munich”:/blog/2006/08/25/oktoberfest-two-weeks-of-binge-beer-drinking-in-munich
“Wies’nCamp: Oktoberfest Accommodation For Backpackers And Low-Budget Tourists”:/blog/2006/09/01/wiesncamp-oktoberfest-accommodation-for-backpackers-and-low-budget-tourists
Lederhosen On A Plane!: Oktoberfest Fever Grips Lufthansa

Posted in Festivals