He lücht

Small Boat (Barkasse) used for tourist tours in Hamburg.

He lücht (low German he is lying) is an expression used in Hamburg, Germany, for tour guides in the port of Hamburg.

Overview

The first HADAG harbour tours started in 1921. The tour guides often told anecdotes and stories. When the boats came close to workers in the harbour, they would denounce the tour guides by saying "he lücht" (he lies).

„The tower of Sankt Michaelis (Hamburg) allows to see three seas: The sea of houses during day, the sea of lights during the night and the see nothing on foggy days.
„Double propeller ships provide one propeller to travel to and another to travel back from a destination^[1]
„… Bananas come straight to Hamburg and get their turn in the harbour docks.“^[2]
Security jackets are important on ships. All are filled with styrofoam, only one is made of lead for the mother in law.

The call changed into a name for the whole profession mid of the 20th century. The first written source is the Hamburg dictionary of 1956.^[3]^[4]

References

^ Jörn Hinrich Laue: Die große Hamburger Hafenrundfahrt 2009
^ Platt für Anfänger – He lücht. Archived 2009-12-13 at the Wayback Machine Radio NDR 90,3, 19. April 2005
^ Christoph Walther, Agathe Lasch: Hamburgisches Wörterbuch. Wachholtz-Verlag, Neumünster 1956, S. 72.
^ Jens Meyer-Odewald: Herr Müller kokettiert mit dem Klabautermann. Hamburger Abendblatt 31 January 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2009.