Hello, I have some vintage mugs from my grandmother side and there is writting in german: “Alte brumm net”. Could anyone help with meaning of that? I tried to translate it, but unfortunately I am unable to find any meaningful translation.
by Prestigious_Tell_433
22 comments
alte = old one, might be a word for „woman“, not a nice one though.
brumm net = from brummen, could be „audibly being grumpy“ or „complain“? „net“ is negation, so maybe: stop complaining, old woman?
“Old (wife): do not humm”
It’s a pretty disrespectful “shut up, wife” in a little bit of old-timey slang language.
Old people don’t grumble.
I would translate it as: Alte (old woman, or wife) brumm (from brummeln, it means complain) net (not, don‘t do). = wife don‘t complain.
I would say: „old lady, dont start nagging
Pipe down, woman.
No, woman, no cry!
Thank you all for quick response. I wasn’t sure with the “brumm net” part. And I have found the other one with “Alter” instead, so it looks like it comes in pair.
Its like old wife dont start nagging
Stop bitching, woman.
Yes, the tone is that gruff.
Dump it. Nobody needs sexism.
Boring boomer humor, plain sexism.
It‘s telling the wife not to grumble. Could be interpreted as rude, but it‘s meant more in a playful Way.
It IS Boomer Humor though… the man doing something upsetting and blaming the wife about sulking over it.
„Alte“ is a common and disrespectful (most times slightly) for the wife (“Meine Alte“), but it goes the other way roung too („Mein Alter“ )
“Old wife, shut up!”
It’s more like: Wife, dont Grumble/Bleat.
Alte Brumm, brumm net.
Shut up, “granny”
My grandparents had these two mugs, way back … complete forgot about them. They are huge in size, according my kindergarten age memory. Filled them with Kefir, added a bit of sugar, cinnamon and crumbled Zwieback (hard tack) into them. Used to toast with them and laugh. They did call them either Mutti and Vati or Alte and Alter interchangeably. „Brumm net“ does not equal „stfu“ – depending on the context it can also mean „lighten up“.
was zur hölle ist hier passiert?
This likely was either a set for a married couple or they only got some married guy this for a anniversary or such. Usually these come in twos: i.e. [Look at this](https://www.etsy.com/listing/244318972/vintage-german-funny-mug-alter-brumm-net), which has the corresponding *Alter, brumm ned.*
*Both* refer to a saying that was also the theme of [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDznQMPyhVM). It’s about a guy saying *”don’t complain and sulk about (me and other) things, I don’t, and it’s not gonna do anything either”.*
Relative to how women were talked to back then this wasn’t meant to insult her. There is definitely a patriarchal and dismissive tone to it, to be sure, but it’s meant to be “playful” and given the time it stems from it would mostly correspond to something like “don’t take it too serious, wifey” and would likely not have been taken as an insult at all. My grandparents e.g. used a very similar phrase on each other and depending on region “oide” or “oider” i.e. “Alte” or “Alter” is still used a lot as a traditional way of referring to a spouse. I had colleagues of both genders who use it to refer to their partners to their faces.
Alot of people said “brumm” here is for being grumpy, complaining etc. but with the fact that the phrase is kind of offensive, I would assume it’s a metaphor for “noise”. So it’s emphasizing that her words are just noise. I’d translate it as “Wife, don’t make noise”. So basically an old way to say “shut the fuck up” in a sexist manner.
This mug is funny as hell 😀 would you like to sell it? If so, please DM me.
My mom has the same one for over 25 years now
Took my first sip of coffee out this mug
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