klüngeln

From Low and Central Franconian klöngele. Derived from the noun at hand in Klüngel, originally meaning “ball of wool”. Cognate with Dutch klungelen (“to bungle; to dawdle”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈklʏŋəln/

• Audio:

  (file)

klüngeln (weak, third-person singular present klüngelt, past tense klüngelte, past participle geklüngelt, auxiliary haben)

1. (western Germany) to be slow; to delay; to dawdle

   Synonym: trödeln

   Jetzt klüngel nicht so! Wir kommen schon wieder zu spät.

   Now don’t be so slow! We’ll be late again.

2. (western Germany) to chat, chatter (often in confidence, or seemingly so)

   Synonyms: quatschen, schwätzen, tuscheln

   Ihr beiden sitzt da den ganzen Tag und klüngelt wie kleine Mädchen.

   You two just sit there all day chatting like little girls.

3. to engage in nepotism and corruption

   Geklüngelt wird ja überall. ― There is nepotism everywhere.

• The verb has become supra-regionally intelligible chiefly in sense 3, but within the region senses 1 and 2 are actually more common.

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