Opa Langbein

German

Etymology

Literally, "grandpa longleg".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈoːpa ˈlaŋˌbaɪ̯n]
• Hyphenation: Opa Lang‧bein

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Opa Langbein m (strong, genitive Opa Langbeins, plural Opa Langbeine)

1. (colloquial, regional, parts of northern and central Germany) daddy longlegs, harvestman (arachnid of order Opiliones)

   Synonyms: (Upper Franconia) Habergeiß, (West Central German: chiefly regions along the Moselle and the Rhine river) Hochbeiner, (East Central German: region between the Werra and the Elbe river) Kanker, (eastern parts of Austria) Leiterkarren, (West Central German: chiefly regions along the Rhine and the Main river) Schneider, (Northern German and East Central German: surroundings of Hamburg and regions along the central Elbe river) Schuster, (general term, originally only Austro-Bavarian) Weberknecht, (eastern parts of Switzerland, most western part of Austria: Vorarlberg) Zimmermann

   • 2013 August 19, Michaela Siano, “Ein „Knecht“ mit acht Beinen”, in Braunschweiger Zeitung‎^[1], retrieved 9 January 2020:

     Man begegnet „Opa Langbein“ im Wald und auf Wiesen, er klettert auch gerne an Mauern hoch.

     You’ll meet “daddy longlegs” in the forest and on meadows; it also likes to climb up walls.

Declension

Declension of Opa Langbein [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Opa Langbein	die	Opa Langbeine
genitive	eines	des	Opa Langbeins	der	Opa Langbeine
dative	einem	dem	Opa Langbein	den	Opa Langbeinen
accusative	einen	den	Opa Langbein	die	Opa Langbeine

References

• “Karte 4–55: der Weberknecht” in Jürgen Eichhoff (2000) Wortatlas der deutschen Umgangssprache (in German), volume 4, Bern/München: Saur, →ISBN, page 32.
• “lang” and “Opa” in Hermann Paul, revised by Helmut Henne (2002) Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes (in German), 10th, revised and extended edition, Tübingen: Niemeyer, →ISBN, pages 587, 724.