Guest Author - Holly Fox

Several young men gather in shorts and t-shirts, soccer cleats and shin guards in the middle of a grassy field in the city park. They are all shaking each other’s hands like businessmen making a deal. All this handshaking might seem out of place for such a casual social gathering, but it turns out that German friends always greet each other with a handshake for the males and a kiss on both cheeks for the females. Everybody waits their turn to properly greet any newcomer. This custom is followed at all get-togethers. In Northern Germany a hearty “Moin, Moin!” underscores the friendly feeling.

Upon my arrival in Germany a friend quickly explained that although “moin” was short for “morgen” (morning), “moin, moin!” was a universal greeting as appropriate at 10 in the evening as at 10 in the morning. While it is true that one hears the phrase throughout the day, the origins of the word are in fact a bit more complicated.

Many linguists are not convinced of the evolution from “morgen” to “moin” and instead contend that the roots are distinctively Frisian with “moi” meaning “good” or “beautiful.” Thus the Frisian “Moi Morn” or “Moi’n Dag” (good morning or good day) easily become either simply “moin!” or “moin! moin!”

Regardless of its roots, the phrase is widely used in northern Europe. Similar greetings exist in all areas of Frisia including southern Denmark and the eastern part of the Netherlands. Additionally, in Finland the greeting “moi moi” is used while speakers of Luxemburgish use the word “moien.”

Although within Germany the use of “moin, moin” still tends to mark the speaker as a northerner, it is understood across the country. In the 1980s the comic character Werner achieved widespread popularity with his quirky use of North German phrases and puns. He always greeted others with “moin, moin!”

Likewise, Hamburg’s greatest hip-hop export Fettes Brot begin their 2005 anti-war song “An Tagen wie diesen” (On days like these) with an eerie “Moin moin—was geht?/Alles klar bei dir? Wie spät?” (Moin moin—what’s up?/Everything okay? What time is it?). In their 1995 classic and first big hit “Nordisch by Nature” (Nordic by Nature), a “moin!” exclamation appears amid several lines of Low German, another dialect of the Frisian area.

Curiously, although the phrase is enthusiastically used by males of varied ages, I have never heard a woman utter the words. There is some unspoken rule that brands the phrase distinctly masculine.

At the end of the soccer game, party, or whenever anyone leaves any gathering, the same procedure repeats itself with handshakes and cheek kisses all around. Only instead of “Moin, Moin,” everyone says goodbye with a sing-song “Tschüss!”