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I'd like to know how should we translate

"Don't be a wuss (or cry-baby)"

into German? Which of these options (Weichei, Feigling, Schlappschwanz, Waschlappen, Memme, Schwächling, Lulu) would be the correct one?

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  • 1
    As trivial translation request off topic.
    – user unknown
    Commented Feb 10, 2012 at 0:20
  • 1
    Agree to @userunknown Two minutes using google would answer the question, tops.
    – Em1
    Commented Feb 10, 2012 at 7:47
  • 6
    Non-trivial translation requests are on topic.
    – Takkat
    Commented Feb 10, 2012 at 8:27
  • 1
    @Takkat Imho Sei keine Memme fits best. Alternatively Sei kein Weichei or Was bist du für ein Schlappschwanz?. If you're looking for the latter, it is on-topic, but if you're looking for a general translation (and he does), you find both Memme and Weichei, without doubt. Reiß dich zusammen is a better translation for Get a grip or Get hold of yourself or Pull yourself together
    – Em1
    Commented Feb 10, 2012 at 8:58
  • 3
    @Takkat: There is no context given to make a finer suggestion. Just list the leo results, and you have a valid answer.
    – user unknown
    Commented Feb 10, 2012 at 18:36

6 Answers 6

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13

I would use:

Sei keine Memme

You can find more words in leo.

Perhaps you could also use:

Reiß dich zusammen (Pull yourself together!)

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9

The word Weichei is the "mother" of all decending Weicheiwörter.

A couple of years ago, there was quite some hype about these words and people came up with more and more synonyms for Weichei, as this textfile shows.

I guess you have expressions like that in other languages as well, but 3000 is really impressive, even though many of them are really far-fetched...

Ergänzung: Obiger Link funktioniert nicht mehr, hier ist etwas vergleichbares, sogar mit doppelt so vielen Begriffen.

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  • 1
    Das hatte ich schon total verdrängt :D +1 dafür
    – Em1
    Commented Feb 10, 2012 at 7:49
  • This is a perfect example on how useless link-only answers are in practice. Time has invalidated this one completely.
    – tofro
    Commented Sep 20, 2022 at 9:11
8

I also suggest

"Stell Dich nicht so an!"

Refer to meanings 9 and 10 in the Wiktionary article for "anstellen".

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  • 3
    Ähnlich: Hab dich nicht so
    – Em1
    Commented Feb 10, 2012 at 14:09
5

I'd go with:

  • Sei kein Weichei
  • Sei kein Baby
  • Sei kein Feigling
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  • 1
    "Heulsuse" is also used in the context of children knowing no other reaction than crying.
    – guidot ♦
    Commented Apr 16, 2015 at 13:21
4

As an alternative to Weichei you can also say

Sei kein Waschlappen.

Wikipedia says that this word (literally: washing mitt) can be used to describe a person with weak spirit. As far as I know, it's only used for men.

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1
  • Correct, might be a bite dated, though.
    – Martin Peters
    Commented Apr 17, 2015 at 7:17
3

I would suggest

Heulsuse

as a translation for cry-baby.

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