Sitzfleisch

From German Sitzfleisch.

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪtsflaɪʃ/

Sitzfleisch

1. (uncountable) The ability to endure or carry on with an activity.
   • [1947, Frank Vigor Morley, “My One Contribution to Chess”, in Chess Notes, Faber & Faber:

     Sitzfleisch: a term used in chess to indicate winning by use of the glutei muscles--the habit of remaining stolid in one's seat hour by hour, making moves that are sound but uninspired, until one's opponent blunders through boredom.]

   • 2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 2004, page 203:

     He never dallied with the image, beloved of the Renaissance, of the lean and shrunk-shanked scholar, possessed of infinite Sitzfleisch and inured to pain.

   • 2019 May 16, A.J. Goldmann, “A Festival of German Theater, Where More Is More”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     This year’s installment of Theatertreffen Berlin, the spring festival of the best of German-language theater that has been going strong since 1964, required some sitzfleisch — that is, the ability to stay planted on your derrière without fidgeting for the duration of a Wagner opera.

2. (slang) A person's bottom; the posterior.
   • 1987, The Lexington Reader, page 530:

     Just as he was snorting and puffing like a grampus, I chanced to observe a quite formidable scar on his Sitzfleisch. With an apology for the personal nature of the question, I asked if it was a war wound of some kind.

From sitzen (“to sit”) +‎ Fleisch (“flesh”). Cognate with Yiddish זיצפֿלייש (zitsfleysh).

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪt͡sflaɪʃ/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Sitzfleisch n (strong, genitive Sitzfleisches or Sitzfleischs, no plural)

1. (colloquial, often humorous) buttocks (especially in the context of sitting)

   Synonyms: Gesäß, Hintern

   • 2018, Joseph von Lauff, Sinter Klaas, →ISBN:

     Wie im Glückstaumel hob er sein Sitzfleisch aus dem staubigen Gras, genehmigte sich einen Schluck von seinem Baktrer Schnaps und brach in die Worte aus: […]

     As if drunk with joy he lifted his buttocks out of the dusty grass, allowed himself a sip of his Bactrian liquor and proclaimed: […]

2. (colloquial, by extension) ability to sit still for extended periods of time, Sitzfleisch

   Diese Tätigkeit erfordert sehr viel Sitzfleisch.

   This activity requires a lot of Sitzfleisch.

   • 1994 May 24, Uwe Denzer, “6-Beratung”, in fido.ger.ccc‎^[2] (Usenet):

     Und zur Diskussion: ja, "aushalten" tut er sie schon. (Dazu gehoert ja auch nichts anderes als Sitzfleisch.) Aber *fuehren* tut er sie nicht gescheit.

     And as to discussions: yes, he can "stand" them. (Nothing else to it than being able to sit still, after all.) But he doesn't *lead* them in a sensible way.

• → Czech: sicflajš
• → English: Sitzfleisch
• → Serbo-Croatian: сѝцфлајш

• “Sitzfleisch” in Duden online