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I received a letter addressed to the previous tenant and I asked her if she wants me to forward it to her. In the end she told me it is just some Schnorrbrief from Uganda.

Do you have any idea what a Schnorrbrief is? I cannot find it in the dictionary and Google translate is not helpful either.

Stephan Kolassa
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Martin Drozdik
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    Also note, that this word is not part of the official german language. See Duden. As a german, I hear this the first time today. Probably it is some dialect of an other german speaking country. – Christian Gollhardt Sep 20 '18 at 20:31
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    @ChristianGollhardt No, this is not correct. In german you can combine a noun with another word to get more specific, by just putting them into one word. This is opposed to english where you rarely do it, like "morning coffee". You won't find the words "Käsereibe" oder "Käsemühle" in the Duden, although these are perfectly valid german words. – Javatasse Sep 21 '18 at 00:53
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    @ChristianGollhardt: There is no such thing as an official vocabulary of German. There only is an official orthography. – Wrzlprmft Sep 21 '18 at 06:15

1 Answers1

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Schnorrbrief is the combination of Schnorrer (or from the verb schnorren) and Brief (letter).

Schnorrer is also explained in the English Wikipedia:

Schnorrer (שנאָרער; also spelled shnorrer) is a Yiddish term meaning "beggar" or "sponger".1 The word Schnorrer also occurs in German to describe a freeloader who frequently asks for little things, like cigarettes or little sums of money, without offering a return.

You could also say Bettelbrief (begging letter)

knut
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    Upvoted, but I think the direct connection to the prefix "Schnorr" would be the verb "schnorren" rather than the noun "Schnorrer" (as is usual with nouns prefixed by an "action", cf. "Bettelbrief", "Werbeprospekt" ...). – O. R. Mapper Sep 20 '18 at 06:48
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    Can you say schnorren as a verb? Something like "Ich moechte dir eine Zigarette schnorren" for "I'd like to bum a cigarette off you." – Omar and Lorraine Sep 20 '18 at 07:44
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    @Wilson Yes, you can. Though in your example it would be more like "Ich möchte eine Zigarette von Dir schnorren." – Kakturus Sep 20 '18 at 07:57
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    @Wilson yes. you can use schnorren as verb. In my experience the noun and verb are only used in colloquial / informal environments. You would not use it for example at a convention asking if you can take one of the giveaway items. In this case you would rather say "Darf ich den Stift mitnehmen?" (Can I take the pen?). Between friends, you would say "Kann ich mir eine Zigarette schnorren?" if you want to get a free cigarette from your friend. Note, that schnorren is used as replacement for "nehmen" -> "Kann ich mir eine Zigarette nehmen?" – DBX12 Sep 20 '18 at 07:57
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    @DBX12 You should note, however, that using “schnorren” with a reference to yourself carries the connotation that you are aware of your mooching. – lxg Sep 20 '18 at 08:54
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    @Ixg indeed, but I reached my character limit :( So if you use schnorren, you acknowledge that you want something without giving something in return as compared to "Kann ich mir eine Zigarette borgen?" (Can I borrow a cigarette?) where you at least intend to return it. In reality, there is no difference as it's unlikely the giver gets a cig back one day ;) – DBX12 Sep 20 '18 at 08:57
  • ISTM that "Schnorrer" is someone who "schnorrt", i.e. that the noun is derived from the verb, not the other way around. In the same sense, "Bettler" is derived from "betteln". – Rudy Velthuis Sep 20 '18 at 11:29
  • @RudyVelthuis What does "ISTM" mean? – Christian Geiselmann Sep 20 '18 at 11:33
  • @ChristianGeiselmann ISTM = It seems to me – IQV Sep 20 '18 at 12:20
  • It's probably fair to call that specific letter spam. – simbabque Sep 20 '18 at 13:52
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    @DBX12 To be nitpicking, if someone asks “Kann ich mir eine Zigarette borgen?”, you rarely want that cigarette back after smoking. In the best case, you will get a new, equivalent item back, which jurists would say, is not the process of “borgen” anymore. So it’s a wrongly used term right from the start. – Holger Sep 20 '18 at 14:06
  • @ChristianGeiselmann: Ich wollte eigentlich einen Link posten zu einer Liste solcher Begriffe, konnte aber keine deutschsprachige Liste finden, wo "ISTM" drin ist. Nur englischsprachige Listen. Ich haben den Begriff schon so oft benutzt, dass mir gar nicht klar war, dass er hier nicht so geläufig ist. Komisch. Dafür war mir z.B. AFK nicht geläufig, bis mein Sohn den Begriff mal benutzte. – Rudy Velthuis Sep 20 '18 at 16:14
  • @Wilson rather correct would be "kann ich mir eine Zigarette von dir schnorren"... from Yiddish shnorn and shnorer / shnorers - which even exists in English as schnorrer / schnorrers (where the way of pronouncing the r is being emphasized)... shnor (third-person singular simple present shnors, present participle shnorring, simple past and past participle shnorred). –  Sep 20 '18 at 18:09
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    Just fyi, I've never heard "kann ich mir eine XYZ von Dir schnorren" - in my area, it's simply "kann ich eine XYZ schnorren". – AnoE Sep 20 '18 at 21:06