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ZimmermannSplinters

^z29th June 2025 at 9:07am

German has several words for woodworkers, e.g.:

  • Zimmermann (carpenter, perhaps with an indoor-finishing slant; "Zimmer" is a room)
  • Tischler (joiner)
  • Schreiner (cabinetmaker)

While looking into the above (in response to a question about my surname) I recently found the enigmatic aphorism:

Einen Zimmermann erkennt man an den Spänen.

which translates more-or-less into:

A carpenter is known by his chips.

... whatever that means!

(cf. Mark Zimmermann, ...)


TopicLanguage - TopicHumor - TopicPersonalHistory - 2005-06-27



(correlates: PerpetualCalendar, FlyHigh, DangerousLiterature, ...)

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