Raffzahn

German

Etymology

raffen (“to grab, grasp, snatch up”) +‎ Zahn (“tooth”). The word, in its first sense, is an inherited word whose oldest attested form so far is Late Middle High German reffzan “incisor” that originally might have applied the probable sense “carnassial, fang; tusk”. The extension to human teeth developed probably by comparison for instance with a tusk. From 1800 onwards the word then also applied the second and third sense which semantically overlapped with the sense “snatch up” of the German verb raffen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʁafˌt͡saːn]
• Hyphenation: Raff‧zahn

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Raffzahn m (strong, genitive Raffzahnes or Raffzahns, plural Raffzähne)

1. (colloquial) crooked upper incisor jutting out under the upper lip
   • 1936, Thomas Mann: Joſeph in Ägypten. Wien: Bermann-Fiſcher Verlag, page 701:
     Translation:
     1940, Thomas Mann: Joseph in Egypt. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, page 617:

     Denn Tabubu, ſchwarz-nackt bis zum Gürtel, um den Kopf graue Zotteln, in welchen der Wind wühlte, gegürtet unter den Vettelbrüſten mit einem Ziegenfell (und ſo angetan war auch ihre junge Gehilfin), ſprach alles aus, was da war, mit beweglichem Klatſchmunde, worin zwei Raffzähne einſam ſtanden, und führte es marktſchreieriſch an nach Namen und Nutzung.

     She stood there black and naked to the waist, her head a grey mass of tangled hair dishevelled by the wind; girdled with a goatskin under her haglike breasts, as was her young helper likewise; her loose mouth, in which two buck-teeth stood up, moved ceaselessly as she shouted the name and use of each object, like a market-woman crying her wares.

2. (slang, derogatory) greedy bastard, puttock (a person who is grabby, greedy, grasping, rapacious)

   Synonym: (colloquial, derogatory) Raffke

   • 2005, Ingo Schulze, Neue Leben: Die Jugend Enrico Türmers in Briefen und Prosa. Roman, 1st edition, Berlin: Berlin Verlag, →ISBN, page 244:

     »Ja«, sagte Piatkowski, zweihundertfünfzig wäre ganz ordentlich, mehr wolle er gar nicht verlangen, er sei ja kein Raffzahn und hier müsse gehörig investiert werden, zweihundertfünfzig Ost, das gehe in Ordnung, nur immer im voraus, immer am Ersten.

     “Yes,” said Piatkowski, two hundred and fifty would be perfectly neat, he didn’t want to ask for more, he wasn’t a greedy bastard and here you have to invest a lot [additionally for this apartment], two hundred and fifty East [German marks], that’s fine, just always in advance, always on the first [of a month].

3. (colloquial) glutton, greedyguts, greedy pig (one who eats voraciously, obsessively, or to excess)
   • 1998, Horst Bosetzky, Champagner und Kartoffelchips: Roman einer Familie in den 50er und 60er Jahren, 1st edition, Berlin: Argon Verlag, →ISBN, page 197:

     Man nannte ihn kurz und bündig »Raffzahn«, weil er anderen ständig die Stullen und die Schokolade wegaß.

     He was succinctly called “greedy pig” because he constantly ate up other people’s sandwiches and chocolate.

Declension

Declension of Raffzahn [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Raffzahn	die	Raffzähne
genitive	eines	des	Raffzahnes, Raffzahns	der	Raffzähne
dative	einem	dem	Raffzahn, Raffzahne1	den	Raffzähnen
accusative	einen	den	Raffzahn	die	Raffzähne

¹Now rare, see notes.

References

• “Raffzahn” in Heinz Küpper: Wörterbuch der deutschen Umgangssprache. In: Digitale Bibliothek. 1st edition. 36, Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2006, →ISBN.

Further reading

• “Raffzahn” in Duden online
• “Raffzahn” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Raffzahn” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon