Greinmachala /grʌɪn-mʌ-chʌ-lʌ/
Hochdeutsch: Heulsuse
English: Wuss
First off, let me tell you that I personally am not a Greinmachala. Though, to be honest, it is hard to defend this position. I like to complain – who doesn’t? – and that alone could earn me this unflattering title. See, anytime a Franconian sheds tears, be it of joy or sadness, or complains too much about little things, like having to go to work Monday to Friday, in other Franconian’s eyes he or she becomes a Greinmachala.
The verb greinen is a rather Franconian word for crying. It’s usually associated with the more disturbing and wet kind that explodes out of nowhere, leaving the one doing it with red-rimmed eyes and a sniffling nose that can get on one’s nerves quite quickly. Machala, on the other hand, is just a cute word for Magd, an old German word used for younger women back in the Middle Ages. (It is still used in more rural areas for females working on farms. And, rather seldomly, for prostitutes.)
So, in other words, if someone calls you a Greinmachala, this someone means you’re essentially a woman who cries a lot, like all those girls on Germany’s Next Top Model. If you happen to be a male, compare yourself to Bruce Darnell.
