What does it mean?
Ein Federfuchser or eine Federfuchserin, pronounced like this, is literally a "pen scratcher".
One of Germany's beloved compound words, it's a colloquial term used humorously or disparagingly to describe someone who meticulously scrutinizes and criticizes written work, particularly in formal or bureaucratic contexts.
The Feder part refers to a pen or quill, while fuchser implies a meticulous, even obsessive, attention to detail, often to the point of nit-picking.
The best English translation is probably "pedant" or "jobsworth" - the latter based on a phrase cherished by bureaucrats everywhere, who refuse to deviate from the rules by as much as a millimetre: "it's more than my job's worth."
Why do I need to know Federfuchser?
Anyone who has spent some time in Germany will have fallen foul of a petty bureaucrat holding up an application for a permit or Gutschein because of an uncrossed "T" or an undotted "I".
And, judging by the sheer number of alternatives to Federfuchser, it isn't just recent arrivals in the country who are driven mad by inflexible bureaucrats.
There's also Paragrafenreiter (Paragraph rider), Prinzipienreiter (principle rider), Erbsenzähler (pea counter), and Überzwerg (Super dwarf), for example.
READ ALSO: 'Be stubborn' - How foreign residents grapple with German bureaucracy
Incidentally, the English phrase "small mans' disease" also translates seamlessly into German as Kleinmannskrankheit.
How to use Federfuscher:
Lass uns nicht zu einem Federfuchser werden und uns auf die wesentlichen Punkte konzentrieren.
Let's not become nit-pickers but focus on the essential points.
Er ist ein echter Federfuchser, der bei jeder Kleinigkeit rummeckert.
He's a real jobsworth who complains about every little thing.
Manchmal ist es besser, über Kleinigkeiten hinwegzusehen, anstatt ein Federfuchser zu sein.
Sometimes it's better to overlook minor issues instead of being a pedant.
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