# Would you help me to find the origin of my nick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077 "2003-07-31T06:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/1 "2003-07-31T06:28:40Z")
It’s a little embarrassing, but I don’t know where my nick comes from. I use to believe that it was my invention, but in a Yahoo and Google search I found it in a language I can’t identify: GROUSSER Some pages I found with the word are: [http://www.petitweb.lu/textespetitsclics/chansonsbis.htm#An%20der%20grousser%20hellger%20Nuecht](http://www.petitweb.lu/textespetitsclics/chansonsbis.htm#An%20der%20grousser%20hellger%20Nuecht) [http://www.alas.be/mathey.htm](http://www.alas.be/mathey.htm) and [http://donh.best.vwh.net/Esperanto/pragolu.html](http://donh.best.vwh.net/Esperanto/pragolu.html) I thought it was Esperanto but I couldn’t find it in Esperanto translation services. Some of you know what my word means? Which language is it? Some examples, please? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/2 "2003-07-31T07:34:35Z")
Well, I did find [url+“[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=GROUSER](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=GROUSER)”]this: > [@](#): > > Any of various plump, chickenlike game birds of the family Tetraonidae, chiefly of the Northern Hemisphere and having mottled brown or grayish plumage. > > ## grouse2 intr.v. groused, grous·ing, grous·es To complain; grumble. n. A cause for complaint; a grievance. > > [Perhaps from French dialectal groucer, from Old French grouchier. See grudge.] ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/3 "2003-07-31T07:36:18Z")
Preview is my friend. Here’s the [fixed link](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=GROUSER) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/4 "2003-07-31T07:39:42Z")
It’s definitely not Esperanto. It seems to be Letzebuergisch (a German dialect spoken in Luxemburg, one of Luxemburg’s three official languages, the other ones being French and German). What it means I don’t know (sounds suspiciously like the German word for “great”), but Letzebuergisch is mentioned in all of your three sites, so I’m confident it is. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/5 "2003-07-31T12:13:46Z")
[Here’s](http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=LUX) some more info about Letzebuergisch. ---
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/6 "2003-07-31T20:30:21Z")
Thanks for all, I think **Schnitte** and **Floater** have the correct answer. That has to be, because I often see the word “grousser” preceding a name, as in “grousser Musek” or “grousser Erwaardung”. Anyway, I will appreciate any confirmation of this. But in the Prager Manifest reads: “grousser a klenger” (?). ---
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/7 "2003-08-01T04:07:41Z")
Last attempt: anyone? ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/8 "2003-08-01T05:27:53Z")
I had a history teacher (WWII Vet) that used to always say “Quit your grousing” meaning complaining or bitching. If you seem to be predisposed to voicing objections, this may be your answer. Your other option is to ask one of the people that first called you that and ask “why”? Just an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/9 "2003-08-01T06:48:04Z")
Sorry, **dnooman** , please read the early posts. I once “invented” the word, for a character in a game, but I didn’t know the word existed already. The posts from **Schnitte** and **Floater** go into the right direction. Now the question is if it really means “great” in _Letzebuergisch_ or what. Thanks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/10 "2003-08-01T07:11:56Z")
I’d always thought I’d invented my nick, too, **Grousser**. When I googled my name, it turns out the first several hits are for something called the Orange Skinner Bible, from the Elizabethian Era, IIRC. There really isn’t anything new under the sun, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-help-me-to-find-the-origin-of-my-nick/192077/11 "2003-08-01T19:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grousser \* > \*\*That has to be, because I often see the word “grousser” preceding a name, as in “grousser Musek” or “grousser Erwaardung”. > \*\* If it’s used like that, I’d wager a guess that it is a german dialect and these quotes stand for ‘grosser Musik’ or ‘grosser Erwartung’. Which translate roughly to ‘large/great Musik’ or ‘great expectation’. German nouns are spelled with a starting capital. **Schnitte** or any other German doper might be able to improve on this guess.