German

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Etymology

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From Frings +‎ -en, after Josef Cardinal Frings (1887-1978), Catholic bishop of Cologne, who during the famine years following 1945 declared that theft of essential goods for private consumption was morally and religiously tolerable.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈfʁɪŋzən/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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fringsen (weak, third-person singular present fringst, past tense fringste, past participle gefringst, auxiliary haben)

  1. (colloquial, Rhineland) to nick, steal (suggesting that it is harmless petty theft)
    In dem Restaurant hab ich mir paar Zahnstocher für zu Hause gefringst.
    At that restaurant I nicked myself a couple of toothpicks for at home.

Conjugation

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