What is a Bünzli?
A Bünzli is Swiss colloquial for a petty, rule-loving citizen: someone who loves rules a little too much. The word was once a family name from the Zurich Oberland.
Ep. 34 · Ueli's Word · 59 seconds. Watch
The real rule
Why the Swiss laugh, and what it means if you're new here.
The Swiss use Bünzli to tease each other about measuring garden boxes and writing polite letters, and most of them admit to a little Bünzli inside. Newcomers often laugh at it, until the day something small starts to bother them too. As a newcomer, take it as an invitation: everybody becomes one, so be a nice one.
Blüemli's verdict: Ding. Everybody becomes one. Bünzli: Swiss colloquial for a petty, rule-loving citizen.
BÜNZLI: originally: a family name; really: someone who loves rules a little too much Ueli's Word
Be like Ueli. Be a nice Bünzli.
Learn more: How to Crack the Coconut, the free book
The rule, explained
The Duden lists Bünzli as Swiss colloquial for a Spiessbürger, a narrow-minded, conventional citizen. The Schweizerisches Idiotikon, the dictionary of Swiss German, tells the word's story: Bünzli was originally a family name at home in the Zurich Oberland, and Gottfried Keller's character Züs Bünzlin, from 1856, was probably the first deliberate use of the name for the type. Today it is a Swiss shibboleth for the conformist citizen, often used with a smile, and often about oneself.
Sources: Duden, Bünzli; Schweizerisches Idiotikon, Wortgeschichte Bünzli
Questions people ask
Where does the word Bünzli come from?
From a family name at home in the Zurich Oberland; Gottfried Keller's Züs Bünzlin (1856) probably made it a type (Idiotikon).
What is Bünzli in Standard German?
Spiessbürger, a narrow-minded, conventional citizen (Duden).
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