[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] putsfrau

Manfred Hensel manfred.hensel at koeln.de
Mon Apr 4 11:58:22 PDT 2016


Lloyd,
in common german language this term has at least two meanings:
one meaning, the unemotional, describes the job, that is cleaning rooms,
houses, offices and so on,
in english language charlady or cleaning lady.
The same term is commonly used by longtime married couples, mostly /
often by the wife
when she is telling her husband or preferred all others around: "oh, I´m
only the / your "putzfrau"
to point out her disappointment about her situation ...
This meaning is somewhat negative indeed and of course provocative too
if she is saying so.
On the other hand, if the hausband denominates his wife in this manner,
especially to others,
then this term can be derogatory ... even if his wife has been a
cleaning lady or charlady before.

Manfred


Am 04.04.2016 um 20:05 schrieb Lloyd Friedrick:
> Is the Volhynian German word “putzfrau”  somewhat derogatory ?   


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Manfred Hensel
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51107 Köln

Tel.: +49 (0)221 2792947




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