Plautdietsch word of the day: plietsch

Pronounced: pleet-sh

What it sounds like: A laundry detergent.

What it really means: to conceal or hide with cunning and intentional deception.

Example:

An old and predicable Mennonite story,....with a predictable outcome.

A young boy coming of age being reined in too tightly. The unfortunate mistake of many well-meaning and sometimes overly pious Mennonite parents, was to forbid rather than simply discourage or offer gentle correction.  For many a young Mennonite, the result was of course to rebel and do exactly those things.

Tjnals Pietash Johnny had always been told, “absolutely no smoking, no drinking and no dancing”. So what was a strapping young Mennonite man to do? Do all them but do them “plietsch”.  This in turn made Johnny highly desirable to Herman Schroeder’s daughter Judy. Why? Because she’d been constantly told to stay away from boys who smoked, drank and danced. So it was only natural that they found time together and pursued all three,...plietsch of course.

Mrs. Peters would always say that, "I know our Johnny doesn’t drink because he is always very thirsty first thing in the morning”.  ;-) Wisdom always comes later in life :-)  Johnny and Judy eventually got married after explaining the burn holes in the rug.  Shortly thereafter, they settled in Winkler Manitoba where Johnny got a job at Sirluck and Janzen. And the rest they say,… is rebel Mennonite history ;-)

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