Persilschein

German

Etymology

Compound of Persil (“a brand of laundry detergent”) +‎ Schein (“ticket, document”) with the implication of "washing oneself clean (of association)".

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pɛʁˈziːlʃaɪ̯n/

Noun

Persilschein m (strong, genitive Persilscheines or Persilscheins, plural Persilscheine)

  1. (historical, humorous) in post-WW2 Germany, a written attestation of not having been a collaborator or associated with the Nazi regime, penned by a third party
  2. (informal, figurative, humorous) an exoneration or dismissal of someone being responsible for past harm (the exoneration is often implied to be incorrect or dishonest)
  3. (informal, figurative, by extension) carte blanche, free rein (a dismissal of the possibility of future harm, effectively allowing someone to do as they please)
    Synonyms: Freifahrtschein, Freibrief

Declension

Declension of Persilschein [masculine, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Persilschein die Persilscheine
genitive eines des Persilscheines, Persilscheins der Persilscheine
dative einem dem Persilschein, Persilscheine1 den Persilscheinen
accusative einen den Persilschein die Persilscheine

1Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

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