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Looking for advice - a German nickname
Hi, I'm writing a story and I'm looking for a fire-based nickname for a character. Plotwise, a nanny with supposedly German-based roots used to call a girl she looked after something like a "little fire".I'd be grateful for any advice!
Kay
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I speak some German (but you should probably run these suggestions by a native speaker!) and my first thoughts are "Feuerchen" (little fire) and "Flämmchen" (little flame). From a quick search on translation sites, "Flämmchen" seems more metaphorical, so might be a good pick. I think it sounds pretty cute too. I think you'll generally be after fire-related words with the diminutive -chen suffix. "Fünkchen" for example means "little spark" and is also used in the equivalent expression for "a spark/glimmer of hope". Hope this helps :)
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Dear G, thanks so much, this is exactly what I was looking for! :)
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Please take this with a grain of salt as I have no knowledge of German language, at worst this is good chance for German speakers to laugh at me ;)If you want something literally "little fire," my first thought was "Flammelein," where die Flamme = flame and lein = affectionate diminutive suffix. I am not sure, but I would guess this nickname would have a poetic, maybe flowery or outdated connotation. I did a Google search and only found it in a poetic context: https://lueersen.homedns.org/!gutenb/arnim/wundhorn/wh2050b.htmYou might also consider a nickname tied to Helen, which has the possible meaning "torch." Ilka, Lena, and Ella are diminutives of either Helen or names etymologically linked to Helen.
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Dear Amparo, thank you! I was thinking about Flammelein too, but wasn't quite sure if the word can be formed this way :)
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