Der grosse Polt: Ein Konversationslexikon

by Gerhard Polt

Von A wie der »Auster des kleinen Mannes« bis Z wie »Zwischenwirt« erläutert Gerhard Polt die Welt, wie sie eben nun mal ist. In diesem Wörterbuch finden sich die zentralen Begriffe seiner praktizierbaren Alltagsphilosophie, und es trägt bei zu der »fundamental basic education« eines jeden Fans.

176 pages, Hardcover

Published March 29, 2017

About the author

Gerhard Polt (is a Bavarian writer, filmmaker, actor and satirical cabaret artist.
Gerhard Polt's main topics are Bavarian people, culture and politics. Nevertheless he generally performs in Standard German, though with strongly Bavarian pronunciation and melody and hence undistinguishable from actual dialect by non-Bavarians. His performances in Munich theaters, which he started in 1976, are very popular. In 1979 he became known to a wider audience in Germany as a result of his television comedy series "Fast wia im richtigen Leben" (Almost like in real life). In the following years, he was writer and actor in the movies Kehraus (1983), Man spricht deutsh [sic] (1987), Germanikus (2004), and writer and director of Herr Ober! (1992).

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerhard Polt is the funniest comic and one of the most insightful people of whom I'm aware. His Bavarian dialect, insights into Bavarian culture, and ironic monologues as various German right wingers are masterpieces. And so very difficult to translate. The cultural nuances don't always come through in English. This small edition is only for devoted fans of Polt. It's a compilation of various parts of Polt's humor arranged in a Devil's Dictionary style. I keep a copy in my travel backpack (along with my copy of the U.S. constitution) to have some good reading material handy if I finish what I brought. A sample followed by a desperate attempt to translate it:

Toleranz
1. Toleranz ist kein deutsches Wort, das ist ein Fremdwort. "Etwas tolerieren", das bedeutet etwas aushalten. Wenn früher einer Folterungen überlebt hat, dann war der tolerant.
2. Toleranz ist sehr individuell, das geht bis zu den innern Organen. Der eine frisst eine Schweinshaxe mit zwei Knödeln und noch einen Apfelstrudel dazu, weil sein Magen es toleriert. Der andere sauft eine Kamillentee und es wird ihm schlecht.
3. Tolerant ist jemand, der einen anderen grüßt, obwohl dieser sein Nachbar ist.
4. Nur ein Depp ist immer tolerant.

Tolerance
1. Tolerance is no German word, it is foreign. "To tolerate something" means to endure. If one survived torture, then he tolerated it.
2. Tolerance is very individual, it goes to one's inner guts. One chows down a Schweinshaxe* with two dumplings and then adds on an apple strudel because his stomach tolerates it. The other gulps down chamomile tea and gets sick.
3. He who greets another is tolerant, even though that one is his neighbor.
4. Only a twit is always tolerant.

* - [Bavarian specialty often poorly translated as a pork knuckle. It's a crispy, chicharone-ish encased pork masterpiece when done well or in the company of multiple beers in a beer garden.]