Gretchenfrage

German

Etymology

Compound of Gretchen (diminutive of the given name Margarete) and Frage "question". In reference to Goethe's Faust (published 1808), where the character of Gretchen asks the protagonist, who is secretly in league with a devil, wie hast du's mit der Religion? "how do you feel about religion?". The expression is of mid-19th-century coinage (attested 1865 in Löwe (ed.), Schlesische Provinzialblätter issue 1168, p. 147).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʁeːtçn̩ˌfʁaːɡə/, /ˈɡʁeːtçənˌfʁaːɡə/

• Audio (Austria)

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• Audio

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Noun

Gretchenfrage f (genitive Gretchenfrage, plural Gretchenfragen)

1. a question as to the addressee's religiosity or belief in God
2. any question going directly to the core of an issue
3. a crucial question that usually has a difficult or unpleasant answer

Declension

Declension of Gretchenfrage [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Gretchenfrage	die	Gretchenfragen
genitive	einer	der	Gretchenfrage	der	Gretchenfragen
dative	einer	der	Gretchenfrage	den	Gretchenfragen
accusative	eine	die	Gretchenfrage	die	Gretchenfragen

Further reading

• “Gretchenfrage” in Duden online