Fimmel

Meaning

craze; unusual passion, preoccupation

Concepts

craze

wedge

Synonyms

Angewohnheit

Eigenart

Macke

Marotte

Spleen

Tick

Wahn

Manie

Schrulle

Allüren

Tic

Modeerscheinung

Eigenheit

Furor

Grille

🦗

Kaprize

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfɪməl/

Etymology

A dialectal word that spread supraregionally during the 20th century. It has not been established in the etymological literature which dialects are at the origin, but they seem to be those of what is now North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rheinisches Wörterbuch (20th century) stated that the word was common throughout Ripuarian and Low Franconian, but had only begun to spread to Moselle Franconian. The more original meaning in the Rhenish dialects is “extravagance, craziness”. A connection with fummeln (“to fumble, to potter”) is supposed.