Have you ever looked for a way to describe the popular past time of “day drinking” in German? Well, we can share a word that means the same thing, but with all those German sounds that makes it sound really complicated. But, fear not, we got you.
That word is Frühschoppen. It consists of the words früh, which means “early” (in this case: “before noon”) and the noun der Schoppen.
Against popular misunderstanding, Schoppen doesn’t have anything to do with shoppen, which is the Germanized version of “to shop.”
A Schoppen in fact indicates a glass filled with a certain amount of alcohol, a bit like a Maß, which you might know from Oktoberfest season. But in this case, a Schoppen is about half a pint of an alcoholic beverage in a glass. In combination, Frühschoppen therefore means “an early half-pint”, or “day drinking.”
The concept of Frühschoppen is popular in Austria and Germany, and describes a meet-up in a pub before midday, usually on Sundays.
While it can be used to describe a brunch too, Frühschoppen does not always have food on the table.
Frühschoppen is especially popular around Oktoberfest season in neighbouring Bavaria, where some people meet up in the morning and drink beer all day long.
Examples:
Wir gehen am Sonntag zum Frühschoppen.
We’re going day drinking on Sunday.
Ich habe beim Frühschoppen etwas zu viel getrunken, jetzt ist mir schlecht.
I have had a bit too much to drink during our early pub meeting; now I feel sick.
Kommst du mit zum Frühschoppen?
Are you coming day drinking with us?
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