My maternal grandparents were Germans who grew up in German-speaking communities of Russia, hence their dialect might vary substantially from German as it is spoken in Germany. My mom one day recently referred to our dog as 'schnap-shnoot' (a phonetic rendition), which she translated as 'smart-nose.' But I can't find anything about it on any German language translation sites. It sounds vaguely Yiddish to me, but I couldn't find anything like it on Yiddish sites either. Is this even a real phrase? Or could it be some kind of English hybrid?
1 Answer
That's most likely German:
Your mom literally called the dog a "snappy snout".
"schnappen" is very straightforward - "to snap" in the sense of "biting", "grabbing" or "nipping".
"Schnut" is a dialect version of "Schnute - a term with meaning of "snout". It's a version used in the Danube Swabian dialect and this has a lot of similarities to Russian German as spoken in the small, isolated communities. Considering the context, I'm sure that is the case here as well.
If your mother gives a slightly different translation, remember that words always carry an abstract meaning and a dog that is quick to snap at something, can in English be called a "smart ...".
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Thanks Stephie! I thought the phrase was funny and wanted to know more about it. My mom doesn't really know German, except phrases (like this one) she picked up from her parents.– Sarah M.Aug 28, 2017 at 21:19