Here's another mushroom (Pilz), but this one is less endearing than the Glückspilz we dealt with in the past. Spalten means "to split" or, if you are in the mood, "to rend asunder". Spaltpilz used to be a botanical term for a bacterium, which, after all, multiplies by splitting. In biology, this term has been replaced by Bakterie in German, but Spaltpilz remains very much in the language in a metaphorical meaning, to denote someone who works hard to split a group into factions.
[Source: Wild Things in the German Language: Kindle version | iBooks version]
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4 comments:
What a great drawing. I love the difference in the facial expressions between the sweet little Gluckspilz and this unpleasant character. Seems to me these days we have more than one Spaltpilz on the loose.
Heika: I agree with you. The so-called "polarization" of the electorate in this country is the result of the deliberate efforts of Spaltpilze (that's the plural, in case anybody cares) who have been at it for decades and who are finally able to reap the fruits of their labor.
There is a brilliant scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, where they are making fun various leftist revolutionary groups, and their factionalism. Each anti-Roman group hates each other more than they hate the Romans. The highlight of the scene is where a group of one small faction calls the others "Splitters!"
So, in the German version, do they shout: "Spaltpilze"?
Actually, I've seen it used only in print, where it appears to the present day in political commentaries. For shouting and oral abuse, it lacks somewhat in punch.
The Left, as I know it, prefers insults that are more to the point anyway. For example, for the Trotzkyites (bless them), there was no worse insult than "Stalinist" and vice-versa. And "left Fascist" makes just about everybody go ballistic. My favorite, though, from way back in 1968, is "theory-less activist" (theorieloser Aktivist). In fact, I'm so fond of it, I still use, and not necessarily in political contexts...
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