Mauscheln

[Joshua Horowitz <horowitz...>]

Right on the mark...

The term Mauscheln in Rotwelsh came from the word for a poor Jew, who
was called a Mauschel, which had two etymological sources: first from a
nickname slang pronunciation of the word Moshe, the second from a
cynical use of
the word Mauschel (meaning the head of a government). In the 19th
century, poking fun at the regional dialect of Frankfurt, Heinrich Heine
wrote: "What we call Mauscheln in Northern Germany is nothing more than
the regional language of Frankfurt."

In Rotwelsh the term had another meaning - illegal card playing. From
this came a collection of German expressions all expressing something
forbidden: 

1) vermauscheln (to put into circulation counterfeit money)
2) taüscheln und mäuscheln (to deal with illegal or clandestine
business  - This expression is used mostly in Bavaria- i.e. southern
Germany)
3) muscheln ( to cheat silently - especially in a card game while
shuffling cards. This variant is probably related to the word mischen -
to mix, but also has a crossroad connection to Mauscheln - to speak
Yiddish, i.e. to do something which others don't understand). In north
Thüringen the "muschele" means clandestine activity and cheating.

The latter two of these became integral to what is known in German as
"Mundart" which is very specific regional dialect pronunication and
differs from place to place throughout the German speaking countries.

Still in use in all the German speaking countries is the slang word for
money - "Maüse" (mice, pronounced Moyse, the source of which may also be
Moyshe). In Berlin, the term Moos is used, which is a dialect
pronunciation of the word for Maus (mouse) and is a substitute word for
the term "Ratten" (which means both rats, as well as "payment in
installments"). Complex enough? Josh


> it?s "mauscheln", still a common word, which today means to jabber, or
> talking about something better not to be heard by others.
> My German-English dictionary translates it as "talk Yiddish", but it lost
> this specific meaning in German.
> According to Salcia Landmann it goes back to "mashal" (parabel) and came from
> Yiddish via Rotwelsch into German.
> 
> Christian

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