Navigating Salzburg dialect
If you ever studied German and visited Austria, you might have realized that German dialects spoken in Austria (or rather – Austrian dialects) can be quite confusing. Different spelling and pronunciation in different regions can make your life hard if you are not used to the way locals speak. Take a look here to get an idea about German dialects spoken in this part of Europe.
Therefore, let’s focus on Salzburg dialect to illustrate the point. Below is my attempt to collect the most useful expressions in Salzburger dialect (probably a lot of overlap with dialect in Upper Austria and Bavaria).
Some useful expressions (work in progress)
Dongsche – Danke schön – Thank you
Seawas – Servus – Hello!
Oida/Oide – Dude/Man or Wifey
Zwida – Grumpy
Gemma auf a Bier? – Willst du mit mir ein Bier trinken gehen? – Would you like to go for a beer with me?
I spotted this one in Stiegl commercials.
A geh! – Unglaublich! – Wow! Really?
I muass nu gach – Ich muss noch schnell – I only need to (more as an excuse)
I schau nur – Ich schaue nur – I am only looking…
I use this one on a regular basis while shopping. Helps me get some space away from pushy salespeople…
Schauma mal – Wir werden sehen – Let’s see
Passt scho! – Passt schon – Enough/OK
Passt, passt… You can hear this at the end of almost all phone conversation (helpful if you are eavesdropping).
Jo eh! – Ich verstehe aber ich zustimme nicht! – I get what you mean, but no (similar to Australian ‘Yeah, no’).
Na no na net – Ja – Yeaaaah
Jetzt daun nochher glei amoi – Nie – Yeah, soon (but mean actually never)
Damma wos – Tun wir etwas – Shall we do something together?
Sammas – Ist das alles? – Are we done?
Host mi?! – Verstehst du mich? – Got it?
*looked at me angrily*
Jo glei! – Ja, gleich – Soon!
Na geh – Ich glaube dir nicht – Suuuuuuuure
