alter Schwede

German

Etymology

Literally, “old Swede”.

Interjection

alter Schwede

  1. (colloquial) exclamation of surprise or astonishment
    • 2012 November 17, Katrin Bettina Müller, quoting Peter Kurth, “Die Brigade Kurth wühlt schon wieder”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎[1], →ISSN, page 49:
      Und ja, „alter Schwede, die Dramatik ist enorm“, sagt er.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

alter Schwede m (mixed, definite nominative der alte Schwede, genitive (des) alten Schweden, plural alte Schweden, definite plural die alten Schweden)

  1. (colloquial, especially vocative) old chap (affectionate term of address)
    Synonym: altes Haus
    • 1924, Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg [The Magic Mountain], volume 2, Berlin: S. Fischer, page 478; republished as H. T. Lowe-Porter, transl., 1927:
      Er sagte zu Hans Castorp: „Castorp, alter Schwede, Sie langweilen sich. […] “
      The Hofrat said to Hans Castorp: “Castorp, old cock, you’re bored. […] ”

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.