Anyone who lives as a Jeck on the Rhine and Main has the complete carnival, its manners, customs and of course the technical terms simply on it – almost in their blood!
But for new carnival fans and for all those who want to join in the celebrations and have a foolish say, here are the most important carnival vocabulary from A for Alaaf to Z for Zoch.
The most important terms around carnival
A like For the outdoors — that’s the Cologne fool’s call. The revelers greet each other with “Kölle Alaaf”. The origin probably lies in the term “all-ab” (dialectal “all-af”), which means something like “about everything”. What is meant is “Cologne above all”. Many cities and towns have their very own fool’s calls.
A for Ash Wednesday —The last day of the carnival, when you slowly say goodbye to the funky way of life and possibly become aware of the sins you have committed. In some places, confession goes to church. Traditional fish food is also part of it for many carnival enthusiasts.
B like Bützchen —anyone who doesn’t flee fast enough gets a hearty smack on the cheek at the street carnival. The victims of the kissing attacks can be recognized by one or more large lipstick marks.
B like Büttenrede — At carnival meetings, speakers do not step up to the podium, but climb into the tub. From there they share in a humorous way what they think of the world as such and fellow human beings in particular. After each punchline, the band plays a flourish.
C for Carnevale! — is linguistically the origin of the name for the fool’s festival. “Carne” means meat in Latin, the word “vale” means to leave out. “Flesh, farewell” refers to the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday.
D like triumvirate — Prince, peasant and maiden are three chosen men. They form the foolish government in Cologne and are always there. Elsewhere, the revelers are often ruled by princely couples during carnival.
E for Elf — the number eleven is always present at carnival. In Christian numerical mysticism, it stands for breaking the Ten Commandments, for sin. The carnival session always begins on November 11th. at 11:11 a.m. The Elferrat organizes and chairs the carnival sessions.
F for fasting — fasting comes right after the carnival. It takes 40 days until Easter. At least that’s how it used to be. So you wanted to let it rip again beforehand. That’s how it was originally intended. Today you see that less closely.
H like Hello — “Helau” (French “Hé, la haut!”, something like: “You, up there” shout the revelers on the Lower Rhine, in the Ruhr area, in Mainz and also in Braunschweig.
J like Jecke — they want to party and are just harmless “crazy people”. Jeck is everyone who celebrates carnival – whether at work or in their free time, whether in costume or not. Jeck or being jeckish is a world view.
K for camels — Kamelle (from caramel) is the name given to sweets and other throwing materials that are thrown from the wagons in the direction of the spectators on the Shrove Monday procession and are enthusiastically caught.
K like carnival strongholds — in Germany, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz are the carnival hotspots. Internationally, Rio de Janeiro, Venice or the Mardi Gras in New Orleans are known for particularly exuberant carnival traditions.
People from all corners of Germany flock to the carnival in Cologne to celebrate
N for fools —means the same as Jecken. Being foolish, organizing foolishness and wearing fool’s caps are also part of the carnival.
P for Prince Carnival — “His madness”, Prince Carnival, represents the Rhenish carnival. Only in Cologne there is still the farmer (Kölsch: Buur), who is addressed as “His heartyness”, and the male virgin, “Your loveliness”.
R as in Shrove Monday — the main carnival day, on which the long Shrove Monday processions with decorated floats and countless foot troops march through the big cities on the Rhine and Main and the street carnival reaches its climax.
U like Relocation — also in many small towns there is a carnival parade. Schools and kindergartens are often the organizers. The costumed children are accompanied by music groups and decorated floats and are enthusiastically cheered on by the spectators.
W how Women’s Shrovetide — Tie lovers should better not wear a tie this Thursday before Shrove Monday or stay at home to be on the safe side. From 11:11 a.m. the carnival women are out and about with scissors and snipping them off. Then they take over the town hall and thus the government over the Great Days.
Z like Zoch — Cologne expression for train. What is meant is the carnival procession with cheeky motto floats, dancers and marching bands through the city centre.