I’ve just been watching a documentary item about what they call “mobbing”, which seems to be a sort of psychological bullying that goes on in schools. The case is shown of one such victim, a girl named Sabrina, and someone has put up graffiti in the girls’ bathroom. This is the question. It appears to say: Ich heiße Sabrina", but the name Sabrina has some extra letters to alter it in a way I don’t understand. Can you tell me what it says? More than anything else it seems to say “Ich heiße Jamesbrina”, but that makes no sense at all.
For some additional context, it appears that her peers consider this girl fat and ugly, although given the illogical nature of childhood taunts, she hardly seems at all overweight and is rather pretty all in all.
I’m not German, but it seems by calling Sabrina Jamesbrina, the taunters suggest that she is in fact a boy - :eek: - kind of like calling you ‘Spectrina’ (assuming you’re a guy). But let’s wait for Die Kavallerie to arrive.
AFAIK, though, James isn’t typically used as a name in Germany. Keep in mind, that the customs of German handwriting can confound the foreigner learning the language, and that might not even be a “J” at all. I think it might be an “S”–it might even be Sa-sa-brina. It almost looks like she’s being mocked for stuttering. But when she appears on the film she doesn’t stutter.
I’m pretty sure that it says ‘Jamesbrina’, though, looking at it again, and I’d say I’m familiar enough with the handwriting not to be confounded by it (now some German’s going to come in and say I’m wrong, of course). But yeah, why Jamesbrina and not Heinrichbrina or some such?
OK, German here. I read it as Jamesbrina or Jomesbrina, neither of which has any meaning as a German word or name, not even as a mocking. I think you have to know the circumstances, maybe it has an inside meaning.
I also read it as Jomesbrina (more likely) or Jamesbrina, in a young or not well educated person’s handwriting. No general culture referent that I am aware of - probably an insider reference to a person or event familiar only to those girls.
BTW ‘mobbing’ is one of those pseudo-English words in German. It refers to psychological bullying (most often in the workplace, but also in schools), mostly by a majority or vocal minority of one’s peers.
“Mobbing” is a valid English word but it doesn’t mean that, at least not that I’ve heard. Neither does it have anything to do with “mobs”; it’s just a lot of people crowding around something or someone. It can even be done in a spirit of adulation or affection, like fans crowding the stage entrance after a show.
“Mobbing” in birdwatching/ornithology circles is, though, used for the behavior when a pile of smaller birds gang up on a bird of prey or corvid in the neighborhood, which has a similar sense.
On listening to the narration again, it does sound like she’s being called “Jamesbrona” or “Jamesbrina”. It makes no sense at all, since the “j” and terminal “s” sounds don’t occur in German. Also James is my RL name. I’d hate to think that if I ever go to Germany I’ll have bands of kids following me in the streets, laughing at me.
From the video at http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/content/858776?inPopup=true , at about 0:45, it seems that other students called the girl “James” (English pronounciation), “007” (German pronounciation), and “Nichtsnutz” i.e. good-for-nothing (German pronounciation). From the first two it looks like they meant Sabrina looked like either Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig… laughable except when you are a teenage girl at the receiving end.
Well that’s a relief in a way. I got the German words all right, but the “James” and the 007 reference sure threw me.
Kids make no sense! From what I saw and heard, she seemed no less attractive or awkward than most kids (though I haven’t gone very far with it yet). I did catch where they said she had a falling out with a friend that more or less precipitated the situation.
Right … but, as noted, German borrowed a specialized use of it. Much like “Pravda” means “truth” in the literal meaning of the word – a literal translation of the witness’s oath to a Russian speaker would have him swearing to tell the pravda, the whole pravda, and nothing but the pravda. But our use of the term in English owes a lot to the Soviet newspaper’s toeing of the party line, and most emphaticlly does not mean the objective, unvarnished truth. Likewise, a group of teens “mobbing” would not be in adulation of a celebrity, but in harassment of someone seen as an outsider and to be looked down on, at least if I’m grasping what tschild is saying accurately.
It would be hard to imagine a non-English pronunciation of that name!
Seriously though, does it in fact exist in the German-speaking countries? Or is it about the same as “Albrecht” or “Dieter” would be in the UK or America?
Just wanted to add to that: there isn’t a real word for bully and bullying in German. The term “Mobbing” for psychologically attacking a person, either as superior or as a group, was applied in the workplace in the last decade or so and has recently migrated from the workplace to the school situation when kids pick on each other.
I’ve wondered about that. Bullying and related behaviour seems common enough between children, in school, in military and workplace, that there almost should be a word for that in every language. But German has really only necken, and that’s playful teasing or banter, no bullying, or on the other hand belästigen, which is more bothering and disturbing. Of course there’s schikanieren, but who says that, it’s almost like tyrannisieren, not fit for everyday use. Understandable that the pseudo-English mobbing is becoming more and more popular, it’s better than nothing (well, nothing were besser, as in the behaviour not at all existing…)
In my school days (70s to 80s), we called Mobbing “Hänseln”, which basically meant harassing by pointing out certain, mostly physical, weaknesses. I didn’t encounter serious beat ups or extorting of money in school like there are today, but now being older I clearly understand what psychological damages can be caused by such behaviour. “Mobbing” is just a new word for an old bad habit. Kids can be cruel some times…
