#1217 Maw Dip

I was explaining in an email to someone the other day the phrase “schliessen dein maul.”
It’s my understanding that it’s the German way of saying “shut up.” A harsher version of the more polite, “please be quiet.”
When the Germans say “shut up” they say “schliessen dein maul,” which more or less literally means, “shut your animal mouth.” Maul being the term for mouths of a more brutish persuasion.
Oh those Germans, what a fun folk. Shut your maw indeed.
My favorite German name was during the first Gulf War when we had General Schwartzkopf. “Schwartz,” as you may be aware, means “black,” and “kopf” is the German word for “head.”
So we were led by a blackhead.
And perhaps the Joint Chiefs of Acne.
As I was writing the email about the animal mouth phrase, I tried to explain to the non-German speaking recipient how to pronounce the various words. One thing about German is it is very consistent when it comes to pronunciation of its vowels. Particularly its vowel diphthongs.
Pardon me while I explain what you no doubt already know, but diphthongs are two vowels together. IE and AU and EI for example. “Schliessen dein maul” contains a few of them.
In German, the diphthong "ie" in schliessen is pronounced with the long E sound, the diphthong "ei" in dein is pronounced with the long I sound and the diphthong "au" in maul is pronounced “ow” as in how.
It goes without saying that when I first heard about diphthongs I was curious. I love to break down words to determine their meaning.
Turns out not matter it sounds, one is strongly advised not to use a diphthong in a public pool.
America, ya gotta love it.