A few weeks back, we all had the not inconsiderable pleasure of an expert explanation of the infamous Berlin dialect, a manner of speaking so reliably confusing to outsiders that even other Germans have their own word for it: berlinern, or “to mumble Berlin slang.” And Berlin is by no means the only German metropolis with its own special way of speaking: residents of Hamburg don’t Deutsch sprechen, for example. No, what Hamburgers do is snacken – and I don’t mean eating meat sandwiches, here.

After a long time at sea, all Hamburg sailors want to do is snack!

Snacken is the way other Germans describe Hamburg’s own peculiar way of distorting standard German. And just like Berlinerisch, it’s a mixture of a characteristic accent, idiomatic expressions, and vocabulary imported from older dialectal forms.

The use of idiosyncratic vocabulary is, in fact, the easiest way to recognize a real Hamburg native since the accent is by no means as pronouncedly different from the standard as in other parts of the country. The vocab, however, is not for beginners. So anyone who is planning a trip to the Reeperbahn or fancies a look around the harbor had better read attentively.

For a start, when you say hello to a Hamburger, you’ll need to use the word Moin, twice if you’ve got the energy. Despite the fact that it sounds like it might have something to do with Morgen, you can and should use it at all hours. If the person knows you, it’ll most likely be followed by a friendly Na?, to which you should reply with nothing except Na. Those are two tests which most non-natives fail, immediately being stamped as Quiddjes (newbies) by real Hamburgers. The sorting of the wheat from the chaff goes on nonetheless, though, and where other Germans will inquire as to your well being by asking Wie geht’s, a Hamburger will most likely use the slangy Alles klar bei dir? to try and size you up.

Indeed, Hamburgers love low-class slang, like Alter for example – an expression of friendship, surprise, frustration, and pretty much anything else. And what they love even more is their own version: Digga. Anywhere where other German lads in the 20-30 age bracket say Alter, a real Hamburg boy will say Digga. It’s kind of a combo of “mate,” “bruv,” “my boy,” “wow,” “like,” and “what the hell?,” and can be used several times per sentence – like in this lovely example: “Krass Diggah, nee ne? Diggah, hör mir mal zu: Lass das Diggah!”

What is this word and how did it grow to such prominence? The answer would appear to be that it comes from Dicker, which means “fat person.” Not especially friendly. However, dick befreundet sein means “to be very close friends” and so Dicker said from one man to another means “mate” or “pal.” And since Hamburgers have a habit of lax pronunciation, the /k/ turned into a soft /g/ because it’s easier to say – ditto the move from /er/ to /ah/.

"Lass uns ma' anner Alsta längsspazie'n!"

In fact, that’s all one needs to know about Hamburg pronunciation: Hamburg is a busy, prosperous port city where people have better things to do than to take the time to speak clearly. So whereas Berlin or Southern German is full of bizarre and quite complex sounds, learners of Hamburg German simply have to remember to relax their jaws and pretend they’re slightly drunk. This turns /t/ into /d/, for example, and saves you the bother of pronouncing /r/ properly, as in Mudda for Mutter or Vieddel for Viertel (it’s just like American slang turning “party” into “pardy”). All those tricky aspirant /h/ in the middle of words can be dropped too, so fahren becomes fa’n and the district of Bahrenfeld becomes Ba’nfeld.

If a word is said often enough, then you can drop the beginning of it, too. After all, who wants to make their life difficult by saying ein or denn when ‘n will do perfectly well: Moin Alda, was geht’n? Was war’n das für ‘n Mist wieder? Similarly, the ends of common words can be lopped off too, taking care of that pesky /t/ in nicht for example.

So when one Hamburger says Danke – or Da’ge! – to another, the other replies with Da nich für!, which is a dialect way of saying Bitte schön. It literally means “not for that” – i.e. no need to thank me for that. Hamburgers are so fond of nich that they’ll even use it twice in what we in English call double negative constructions: i.e. Ich muss aufpassen, dass ich nich nix falsches sage; or “I’d better make sure I don’t say nothin’ wrong, like.”

So when you’re in Hamburg, don’t say nothing wrong, Digga, and make sure to call the place Hamburch, because a hard /g/ is trying too hard and you’ll be an obvious Quiddje! And to help you avoid other issues, here’s a glossary with a few more northern idioms for you.

Alles in Butter auf diesem Cutter?

Alles in Butter? – A Hamburg form of Alles klar which comes from harbour slang.  Alles in Butter auf dem Cutter? Or “everything ship-shape?”

Amüsemang – Where other German cities offer Spaß, Hamburg offers this.

besnacken – To discuss (standard: besprechen, bereden).

betüdelt – This is what you are after a few too many drinks on the Reeperbahn.

Dösbaddel – Idiot.

Junge, Junge, Junge! – Oh deary me!

krüüsch – Picky about food.

längsgehen – Other Germans say langgehen – i.e. Wo geht es zur Reeperbahn längs?

Mach dich ma’ gerade! – A Hamburg way of challenging someone to a fight, often used humorously as a
way of proving a point.

schmuddelig – Other German cities would take this as an insult meaning “grubby,” but for Hamburgers it’s a compliment (as in “down to earth”).

Tudelkrom – Bits and bobs, pointless faff (standard German is Schnickschnack).

Thanks to Angie Bishop for these lovely photos of Hamburg!