Feiervoggel

Feiervoggel

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Feier (“fire”) +‎ Voggel (“bird”)

Noun

Feiervoggel m (plural Feierveggel)

1. firefly, lightning bug
   • 1938, poem published in the journal of the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society, page 26:

     Der Feiervoggel baut ken Nescht,

     Er singt net in de Baem;

     Er hot en Lutzer hinne fescht.

     The firefly doesn't build a nest,

     He doesn't sing in the trees;

     He has a lantern affixed behind [him].

References

• Earl C Haag, Pennsylvania German Reader and Grammar (2010), page 204