Message: "Mittag...does it really mean "lunch?""

Mittag...does it really mean "lunch?"

by Mittag (guest)

10/12/2004, 12:14 PM

I was surprised my search for the last name "Mittag" didn't return any hits. I know that the origin is German, and have been told that it actually means "lunch, or mid afternoon." Is there truth to this? Not sure I want to marry into a last name that is a meal! :)

Thanks all!
Mel

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- chazda +3

10/12/2004, 6:14 PM

I am not sure it means a meal .. it translates literally to simply "Midday." Maybe the word is used that way by German speakers, but it's not precisely the meaning.. so it's not so strange.

- chazda

This message was edited 10/12/2004, 6:15 PM

- Chrisell +2

10/12/2004, 10:18 PM

I agree . . .

Mittag doesn't mean 'lunch', it means 'midday' - you can see it clearly in the word, 'mit' = mid, 'tag' = day. 'Lunch' is an association, not a meaning.

- Andy (guest) +1

10/12/2004, 10:40 PM

You are right, "Mittag" means "midday" to begin with. But it is also used as a term for lunch. For instance you would say "Mittag essen" (to have lunch; "Mittagessen" written in one word is official for "lunch"), but this is from "zu Mittag essen".

If you take a look at Grimms Wörterbuch, you will find:
"Mittag machen" (literally: "to make midday"; "to have lunch")
"daher 'mittag' auch geradezu für das mittagessen selbst" ("Hence 'mittag' also for lunch itself"). Same in a modern dictionary.

By the way, in the south of Germany and in Switzerland "Mittag" stretches well into the afternoon.

Andy ;—)

- Chrisell

10/12/2004, 11:02 PM

Yup, that's pretty much what I meant :-)

- Andy (guest)

10/12/2004, 12:26 PM

True!

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