Talk:um

de: um... willen

It would be nice to add the "um... willen" usage of the preposition "um" in German. For example, see http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/willen, which says:

Preposition um ... willen 1. for the sake of Um seinet willen bleibe ich zu Hause : For his sake I'm staying at home. Um meinet willen bleibe sie zu Hause : For my sake she's staying at home.

Note: the object between "um" and "willen" must be in the genitive case.

"Um... I'm telling!"

This was a specific schoolyard phrase when I grew up (1980s SE England), to inform somebody that you were about to go and report their bad behaviour (swearing etc.) to the teacher. Why "um"? I doubt it's attestable but you can find a few Google matches. Equinox ◑ 19:55, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

There's also a bit of discussion of this at Wiktionary:Requested_entries_(English)#A.

—DIV (1.145.32.254 12:45, 6 March 2023 (UTC))

 Done I've moved the following conversation here from Requested Entries. Equinox ◑ 18:09, 19 November 2023 (UTC)

• a-mah - OneLook - Google (Books • Groups • Scholar) - WP Library (spelling uncertain) ~IPA^(key): /ˈʌ mɑː/ — (young children's slang, especially in school, Melbourne, 1980's)(interjection) expressing (mild) disapproval and foreshadowing that the 'target' person is likely to get into trouble from e.g. the teacher. Sample usage: A-mah! You're in trouble now, Daniel — you broke the teacher's chalk. I'm going to tell on you! Note: I do not think that this is closely related to existing senses of amah or um, ah.
  • Spelled um-mah: "some kid was like 'um-mah I'm dobbing on you'" [1]
  • Spelled ummmah: "Ok time travel back to the 80s :) // I went to a few schools and remember kids saying 'ummmah' when trouble was a brewing. // I was talking about it with my wife recently, and we both remember it. My kids think I'm nuts, so the saying is long gone. :)"; "We used to say it specifically when someone was going to get dobbed on." [2]
  • ah ma / uh ah / um mah / am uhh / ummaa "Asking here in the wider Australian community as I originally thought this saying was local, but I've had Victorians and people from New South Wales say they have heard it (I'm from Queensland) // When I was younger, I recall we used to say "ahh mah" whenever someone did something bad. (The "mah" sound was normally drawn out). I haven't heard it in years, until a kid said it when her mother dropped a bowl and shattered it. // I remember using it when someone was in trouble or as an "oh no"." "In welsh primary school in the early 80s we’d say ‘am uhh’." [3]. The spelling ummaa is referenced to [4]

  So pronunciation could alternatively be ~IPA^(key): /ˈʌm mɑː/.

  Update: I have just added this sense at um, with the sense "An expression of shocked disapproval used by a child who witnesses forbidden behavior". Please create "alternative forms" as necessary (and attestable). Equinox ◑ 20:40, 16 June 2023 (UTC)

  Thanks for the contribution.

  At that Reddit discussion, which is initiated with the spelling om, there are then several variations mentioned, including "Um⁵ er⁶ in Leicestershire!" and "Ours was so stretched out it was basically “om-muh-ne³r⁷”".

///NOTE: Wiktionary's hyperactive security measures are preventing me from quoting verbatim: please read the superscripted letters as if they appeared the superscripted number of times. E.g. the "m" appears five times on Reddit.///

• I would imagine for attestation it might possibly be mentioned in published diaries/memoires or children's books. With who-knows-what spelling. But actively searching for it seems to be a difficult task. More like to just keep an eye out in case it crops up.

  —DIV (1.145.32.254 12:44, 6 March 2023 (UTC))

Addition German Meaning

There is also a sense, at least in archaic use, of um meaning für, as in doing something for a certain amount of money, etc. This one is missing, and I am not sure how widespread or in what way it is used like this anymore. 174.124.126.39 22:16, 17 February 2016 (UTC)