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A ''Muggeseggele'' or ''Muckenseckel'' is a humorous Alemannic German idiom used in Swabia to designate a nonspecific very small length; it refers to a housefly's penis (or literally its scrotum, i.e. its aedeagus). It has been called the smallest Swabian unit of measurement〔 and plays a similar role in northern Baden-Württemberg and Franconia. The term ''Muggeseggele'' has an iconic character and is one of the most preferred Swabian idioms. In a 2009 readers' survey by ''Stuttgarter Nachrichten'', the largest newspaper in Stuttgart, ''Muggeseggele'' was chosen as "the most beautiful Swabian word" by a large margin. == Etymology == The Swabian term for housefly is ''Mugg''. According to linguist Hans-Martin Gauger, the second element in the word ''Muggeseggele'' corresponds to the standard German ''Säckel'', "little sack"; the term, therefore, must have originally referred to the testicles, like the Latin cognate ''saccellus'', but the meaning was transferred from the "scrotum" to the "penis". This second element in the word occurs independently in Swabian German as ''Seckel'', which is used as a swear word and is thus a rare instance of a sexually themed abusive word in the German language, which mostly uses scatological swearing.〔 In the case of ''Muggeseggele'', the sexual and abusive aspect is not at all present. On the contrary, it is mostly used to express a very small but distinctive distance or amount of substance, as in "the soup needs a Muggeseggele of parsley". It can be used in speaking to children and is deemed completely harmless (compare ''Bubenspitzle''). It is used in the TV series ''Ein Fall für B.A.R.Z.'', which takes place in Fellbach. German's public broadcaster SWR's children's website ''SWR Kindernetz'' (kids' network) mention the word in a ''Swabian dictionary'' that presents some peculiarities of the Swabian dialect to their young audience. Kindernetz uses the sentence ''A muggeseggele Zeit hätten wir noch!'' and translates it as ''Ein bisschen Zeit hätten wir noch'', meaning "We still have a tiny bit of time left."〔(Swabian dictionary ) at website of Südwestrundfunk ''Ein Fall für B.A.R.Z.''〕 == Cultural importance and particular instances of usage== Wolfgang Wulz, president of the ''Verein Schwäbische Mundart'' (Association of the Swabian Tongue), has praised ''Muggaseggele'' and ''Lällebäbbel'' as prominent examples of distinctive and admirable Swabian expressions.〔 Both foreign and German immigrants to Baden-Württemberg tend to include some of the specific dialect expressions in the course of speaking. They often do not adapt to the dialect, but show their desire to integrate into the local community by adopting key regional vocabulary. ''Muggeseggele'' is one of the words deemed funny and distinctive and used in that way as part of a cultural code. A cookery book honoring the longstanding relationship (since 1987) between the twinned cities of Karlsruhe and Halle contains a small glossary of Saxon and Alemannic words, including ''Muggeseggele''. An article in ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' quoted Thomas Lindner, CEO of textile machinery company Groz-Beckert in Albstadt-Ebingen and Speaker of Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA) and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Reutlingen, as saying: "At our Indian premises, everybody knows what a muggaseggele is". Groz-Beckert is a leading company in the production of textile needles and the term ''Muggeseggele'' is therefore used to stress exactitude and diligence as well as Swabian cultural influence throughout the company.〔 The term is used as an example of must-know Swabian vocabulary in courses of Swabian as a foreign language in Tübingen.〔 The same applies for lectures and books written in Swabian. While ''Muggeseggele'' has often been used to refer simply to an extremely small measure, actual measurements of fly penises by an entomologist at the Naturkundemuseum in Stuttgart gave an average length of .〔 - (Online as jpg )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Muggeseggele」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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