Poor Taunte Neeta had many issues over the years. I remember visiting her as a child. I asked my mom and dad, what was in the large bottle that was always at her side when we came over for faspa. I was told it was “cough medicine”. Each bottle came with a plastic star with the number 5 on it. Taunte Neeta used to give me the plastic star by prying it off the bottle with the corner of her removable denture plate. (I was no longer hungry for faspa after watching her take out her teeth and prying it off the bottle!) I pinned the star to my shirt while playing cowboys and Indians. I was a five star sheriff who’d bring an end to all crime in Steinbach! There were some older folks in the neighborhood that questioned where I got my sheriff’s badge. I guessed that even old people got jealous. Taunte Neeta needed so much medication that eventually there were enough badges to go around for all the kids in the neighborhood.
Taunte Neeta’s condition seemed to always get worse when we came over. She had to continually sip hoost medicine during every one of our visits and the bottle was always nearly empty before we left. It did have an odd effect at times. Sometimes after taking a sip, she break into song, "oh tannenbaum oh tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine blätter!" And she would do this in the middle of summer! One time we visited her in the Menno alten-heim when she was trying to help one of the other residents with his cough. It seemed that there was not enough medicine for the both of them and they began to argue and throw empty medicine bottles at each other. The hoost medicine seemed to work though. I never heard Taunte Neeta cough.
Taunte Neeta switched to a different brand of medicine in later years. It was called Crown Royal. Sadly, it did not come with a plastic star. It did however come in a purple satin bag. She used to give us cookies in these purple bags and mom kept one to store her makeup.
Taunte Neeta kept one of those purple bags to keep money and her jebiss (false teeth). When we were ready to go home, Taunte Neeta would reach into the bag and pull out a nickel. Sometimes she pulled out all the coins and her false teeth. Then she'd take one and give it to us and say, "don't spend it all in one place". I guess she had never heard of inflation. The five cents was only enough to buy a bazooka bubble gum. And knowing that the nickel had been close to her false teeth, I couldn't get to the store fast enough to get rid of it.
Plautdietsch word of the day: hoost medzien
Pronounced: hous’t med--i-zeen
What it was said to be in some Mennonite households: cough medicine. There were many variations; Jägermeister, Dr. Jack Daniels and Wild Turkey brand. But only Seagrams made the 5 Star version.
What it really was: whisky (not limited to any particular brand)
Here's me as the Mennonite sheriff of Steinbach.
Kjenn jie noch Plautdietsh? Enjoy getting reacquainted with those forgotten Plautdietsch words of yesteryear and learn interesting new phrases that you may have never heard before! We have three different dictionaries to choose from!
Make sure to follow us so that you don't miss out on the Plautdietsch word of the day and other stories and articles on our facebook page. You haven't done that yet? Na oba! Click on Leina and Hein below and it will take you to the Menno Tribune and hit the "follow" button. Daut es emm sonnst! And remember to forward the Menno Tribune facebook link to your friends and frintshoft!