How to Talk About the Weather With a Swiss Person

It's cold in Switzerland and it's not even November! As always, weather changes in Switzerland are a great topic for conversation at work, when doing shopping or when running into your upstairs neighbor. 'It's cold today!' or 'What a beautiful sunny day!' are common conversation starters. It's what we Swiss call a 'Lückenfüller' (lit. a gap filler) that people use to avoid uncomfortable silence in conversations.

The Weather - A Safe Topic

I believe talking about the weather is something that people do all over the world and in all different languages. It is a "safe" topic and you can feel free to join the comments about the cold or heat or rain or whatever the day brought along.

Little anecdotes about similar weather or totally different weather in other parts of the world can be shared as well. However, keep in mind that this is usually a short and rather shallow kind of conversation so you are expected to keep it short. After all, most of the people you weather-talk with are not your closest friends and are probably not interested in your whole life story.

How to Talk about the Weather with a Swiss Person

So, how should you talk about the weather with a Swiss person? Truth is, it's not very different from talking about the weather with anyone around the world with the main difference that it's done in Swiss German (or possibly French, Italian or Rumantsch if you're not in the German speaking part of Switzerland).

Short guide to talking about the weather in Swiss German:

Es isch x hüt.
(It's x today.)

Morn wirds x.
(Tomorrow it's going to be x.)

Geschter isch es x gsi.
(Yesterday it was x.)

Was für es x Wätter!
(What x weather!)

Hoffentlich wirds glii besser!
(Hopefully it will get better soon!)

"x" can stand for:

chalt (cold)
heiss (hot)
sehr heiss (very hot)
grau (grey)
näblig (foggy)
iischalt (icecold, freezing)
schwül (muggy)
nass (wet)
agnähm (pleasant)
gruusig (ugly)
schön (nice, pleasant)
sunnig (sunny)

Let me know any other weather related phrases you'd like to know in Swiss German!

Wetterhahn (weather rooster) - Rainer Sturm / pixelio.de

Comments

Schätzli, Schnüggel and Müüsli - Terms of Endearment in Swiss German

Kiss - Oliver Haja / pixelio.de If you've ever been invited to the home of a Swiss couple, you are probably familiar with the most popular Swiss German term of endearment "Schätzli" ('little treasure') or one of it's many varieties like e.g. "Schatz" or "Schätzeli" . Obviously, this is not the only pet name used by Swiss couples (or parents for that matter). Like many other languages, Swiss German offers a wide variety of words and phrases that you can use to address your loved one. Swiss German Terms of Endearment What most of these pet names have in common is the ending "-li" which basically turns the thing or person a word refers to into something small or cute. For example "Haus" means house and "Hüüs li " means small house. Plus, this ending "-li" can also be added to first names as a means of endearment, e.g. Benjamin li , Esther li or Fabienne li . I tried to come up with a colle...

How to Say 'I Love You' in Swiss German

To be completely honest, I'm not very fond of hallmark holidays and Valentine's Day is probably the mothership of them all. In my home there will be no cheesy cards or flowers on that day and, personally, I'm happy about it. However, I know that there are many people who like to celebrate Valentine's Day and take it as an opportunity to show their love and appreciation to their loves. Even in Switzerland, there are plenty of people celebrating it nowadays. If you're short on ideas for this years Valentine's Day in Switzerland you might find some inspiration here: Valentine's Day in Switzerland . If you're already set and have the perfect date ready, how about surprising your loved one with a few romantic Swiss German phrases? You should know that the expression "I love you" has only recently made its way into Swiss German from the High German "Ich liebe dich". Swiss people used to simply say "I like you" or "I like ...

How to Spot a Swiss Person

"You're not from here, right?!" These were the words the saleslady of a small clothes store on a busy Tel Aviv street directed at me a few years ago. I was surprised she had spotted my foreignness so easily. After having lived in Israel for a few years and mastered the local Hebrew, I thought I was able to blend in quite well by then. So, I asked her how she knew. She replied with a smile and said: "You nicely folded the clothes you tried on before bringing them back out!" Oh that! Something I assumed was 'normal' but, apparently, the locals didn't do that. My Swiss background gave me away. A Stereotypical (Swiss) Person As an expat I can usually spot fellow expats right away even if at first they seem to fit right in. Be they Swiss people I encounter abroad or foreigners living in Switzerland. Mostly, I catch a word or a phrase in a foreign language or see clothes or other items that are clearly not local. Here in South America it's very easy t...

A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

Search This Blog