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Maybe the grinch is not that well-known, as for grinchy to be translated by making up the respective adjective (grinchisch, grinchmäßig, or whatever the correct term is).

Is there a German word, a (preferably a funny way, as in order to stress the joke character) way of putting together

nicht weihnachtsbegeisterter Mensch
Weihnachtsverderber (don't know whether it's correct, but seems aggressive) ?

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    The Dr. Seuss books and characters are nearly unknown in Europe. So, this seems to be a non-translateable pun. The closest I can come up with is the Austrian Krampus, a kind of Christmas daemon and the mean counterpart of St. Nikolaus. Not sure if you could form an adjective from it that that would be understood.
    – tofro
    Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 12:25
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    @tofro, Oh no please do not mix up Krampus, which is a Salzburg-local tradition associtated with St. Nikolaus, with Christmas. They do not have anything in common. The Krampus is more closely related with the Perchten appearing in the twelve-nights between Christmas and Epiphany - those are daemons. Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 13:02
  • @rexkogitans: Salzburg? Goes much further than that, but yet, it's traditionally associated with St. Nicholas.
    – Ingmar
    Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 14:17
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    @Ingmar, ok Austria and neighbours, but definitely not Christmas, not even Christian. Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 22:03

1 Answer 1

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Apparently the fictional The Grinch is not well known in Germany. The closest translation I can think of would be

Weihnachtsmuffel

This expression was also used for movie or book titles. A Muffel can be associated with all kind of activities: Faschingsmuffel, Partymuffel, ...

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    Muffel wird heute meist als geschlechtsneutrales Schimpfwort für die Eigenschaften Übellaunigkeit und Engstirnigkeit verwendet. Seems the perfect term up to Schipfwort (which maybe is, nevetheless, quite relative). I hope the Weihnachts- part of the word soften it enough.
    – c.p.
    Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 12:39
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    From my experience Schimpfwort would be a bit too strong. A Muffel still is somwhat likeable but can of course also be at times a Spielverderber. As always, it depends on usage.
    – Takkat
    Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 12:42
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    How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (the 1960s cartoon version) has been shown in German TV at least as far back as the early 1980s. And then probably never again, which was a huge bummer for me, then only about six years old... But "unknown" is certainly not correct. Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 14:10
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    @AlexanderKosubek: Something can be "unknown" in a country even though there was an obscure TV show about it. That does not preclude some people happen to know the unknown thing, just like some people in Germany will know the mythical Indonesian Garuda or the American supermarket chain Costco. Nonetheless, when you ask random people in Germany about Garuda, Costco, or the Grinch, the vast majority will probably have no idea what you are talking about, thus showing the thing in question is virtually unknown. Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 19:51
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    I am a Morgenmuffel. And by far I don't recognize that as a Schimpfwort. It simply means you're not supposed to talk to me before 9 a.m.
    – PerlDuck
    Commented Dec 21, 2016 at 22:19

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