After the end of World War II, the Soviet soldiers-victors brought from Germany not only memorable trophies, but also various buzzwords. Fraulein is one of them. Let's find out how it is translated from German, what it means and in what cases it is appropriate to pronounce it.
What does the word Fraulein mean?
Translated from the language of the descendants of the blond Aryans, the term in question means "girl", more precisely - "young lady."
In addition, the word "Fraulein" is also a polite form of appeal to unmarried ladies. It is an analogue for the noun "frau", which is used when speaking with married women. It should be borne in mind that to unmarried forty-year-old ladies, a Fraulein appeal would be inappropriate, although logically correct.
In a conversation it is permissible to use this word on its own or to put it in front of the name and surname of the person with whom the conversation is being conducted.
For instance:
- "Today in the park, Hans saw a charming Fraulein."
- "Fraulein Margaret looks amazingly good today."
- “Please introduce yourself, Fraulein.”
It is worth noting that such a pronunciation of a noun is not entirely true. From the point of view of orthoepy of the German language, it is correct to say "Freilane." However, in Russian a form with "o" has long taken root, despite its fallacy.
How to spell the word Fraulein in German
In the original language, this term will look like this: Fräulein.
It is capitalized because it is a noun. And in German, words related to this part of speech always begin with a capital letter. Even when common nouns mean.
Another meaning
In pre-revolutionary Russia, at the court there was a junior female rank - maid of honor.
Unmarried ladies of noble birth could occupy such a position. They constituted the retinue of the female half of the imperial family. The main reason why noblewomen strove to become court maids of honor was the opportunity to find a worthy husband of noble birth. For the first time in the Russian Empire, such
The mentioned word "maid of honor", although not similar to "Freulein," was also derived from the German treatment of Fräulein. Therefore, it can be considered the second meaning of the considered noun.
By the way, those courtiers who spoke Russian with a German accent often called maid of honor "Fraulein."
The post appeared in 1744 and lasted until the Revolution of 1917. In lower social circles, during the existence of the monarchy, this word was practically never used.