Siff

German Etymology From de Syph f syphilis, clipping of de Syphilis, either directly or as a de versiffen versifft 1 (also spelt de versypht). The use for “filth” has existed in slang since at least the 1960s; it became more widely accepted during the 1980s. While the origin from de Syphilis is not in doubt, note that dialectally (e.g. Rhineland, parts of Hesse) there is a verb gmw-cfr seifen, siffen, siefen to ooze, seep, from gmh sīfen, from gem-pro *sīpaną, by which it may have been influenced or reinforced. Pronunciation de /zɪf/ de De-Siff.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>) Noun m.sg de colloquial filth, dirt, especially moist or greasy kinds de Schmiere Schmutz de Das Badezimmer ist ein einziger Siff! de 2008 Joachim Moras; Hans Paeschke Merkur 62 182 Ein Radio plärrt durch die offene Tür. Arbeiterimbiss – ein Siff von Dosenravioli, Discountkäse, Drecksbier und Dönerpapieren. Überquellender Kippenfänger auf Sperrmülltisch, Sperrholzstühle und Do-it-yourself-Küchenschränke. de rare or regional nonsense, tosh Declension m.sg Derived terms de entsiffen de siffig Related terms de versiffen References Further reading Luxembourgish Alternative forms lb Sift Etymology From lb gmh sif, from lb goh (*)sif, northern variant of goh sib, from lb gmw-pro *sibi. Cognate with de Sieb, nl zeef, en sieve. Pronunciation lb /zif/ lb if Noun m Siffer sieve