[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Nix vs: Nicht

[Margrit Weigel]

Annegret is right that NIX means "nothing", although it is
not very common to write it in this way. Correctly it would be
"nichts". The German word for sea siren is "Nixe".

If this "NIX" is really written in capital letters, I guess that it is 
an abbreviation for something or somebody.

best regards

Margrit Weigel
 



I received the following question from a young relative and I provided an
> answer [copied below]
> 
> After I sent it to him, I realized that I probably did not provide the
> correct
> answer to him and now I appeal to the many linguists on our listserve to
> assist me in providing the correct explanations.
> 
> His question:
> 
> Judy and I went to an antique sale last night, there I opened an old set
> of
> books
> on the top of the page was the word " NIX",  a German word for sea siren
> or
> "Nixie for female siren.
> 
> Yet I found it in my Webster's Dictionary, meaning  "To forbid"
> 
> My mother always said "NIX"  meaning "NO WAY"  I always thought it was a
> German word.
> 
> Interesting...What is your comment,  did your family use it?
> 
>
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> ---
> 
>
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> ---
> 
> My reply to him
> 
> You must remember that our parents and your grandparents spoke different
> variations of German.
> 
> Karl and my Dad spoke a Vohynian German which over the years became what
> people describe as a  "softer" version of the guttural German. This
> happened
> because they were partially integrated with Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and
> Jewish [Yiddish, which is very old German] languages and culture . My Dad
> could almost carry on a conversation in Yiddish with some Jews who lived
> in
> Maidstone Saskatchewan. But, this is another whole field of interest.
> 
> Your grandmother who lived all her life in Dortmund spoke a different
> German.
> I don't know if it was high or low German. I must get into this subject of
> language change someday.
> 
> Dad did fairly well in learning English but Karl struggled with it all his
> life in Canada.
> 
> Now to get to your question about the word    NIX
> 
> It was also used in our household as either a mispronunciation or the
> development of German/English slang that many reverted to during their
> learning of English. Bert Winter was a good example of this.
> 
> The original word in German is NICHT.  Literal translation to English  NOT
> 
> So with your [and mine] untrained ear to nuisances of the German language
> we
> would perhaps hear it spoken as NIX. It was perhaps easier for the elders
> to
> simply say NICHT which covered a lot more ground than the simple NEIN
> [NO].
> 
> There statement of NICHT prob meant that it was forbidden, don't bother
> with
> it  and of course our favourite Canadian expression "Forget about it"
> 
> lloyd friedrick
> 
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