Icon: enlarge
Couple in the park (symbol image)
Photo: Inti St Clair / Getty Images / Tetra images
Today I give you a kiss!
Do you think the word "Bussi" is a word from the south of Germany and Austria?
Then you should know that the “kiss” in Arabic means “Baussi”.
I suspect that a loanword from the Middle East could have illegally immigrated to Europe.
It says on the net that the »Bussi« found its way into the German language in the 16th and 17th centuries.
When did the Ottomans stand at the gates of Vienna?
To the person Right arrow
Photo:
Private
Samer Tannous
was a university lecturer in the Syrian capital Damascus.
Since December 2015 he has lived with his wife and two daughters in Rotenburg (Wümme) in Lower Saxony, where he works as a French teacher.
Together with his friend Gerd Hachmöller, he writes about his attempts to understand the customs of his new German homeland.
I was completely surprised when I found the Bussi in a German dictionary.
In addition to kissing the cheek, kissing the tongue, kissing goodbye and greeting, you can also give a kiss in Germany.
And a horse kiss that doesn't taste quite so sweet.
What doesn't exist in German, on the other hand, is the kiss on the eye.
The phrase "I kiss your eyes" is an expression of the greatest enthusiasm for another person in Arabic.
In the schoolyard I once heard adolescent students say as a token of appreciation:
"Dude, I kiss your heart!"
Perhaps that's a slightly slipped translation.
In the dialect of the Aleppo region they say: "I kiss your soul."
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you have to link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.