Meaning of Kohl, Kohle and Bimbes (was: Re: German politics acquires sleazy tinge)

[Johannes Schneider]

Chris Burford wrote:
> [an excellent account of the honourable Kohleone family,  snipped ]
> "Kohl" colloquially in German also means "money", interestingly enough.
Chris,
sorry to correct you here, the word you mean is 'Kohle' (coal), but  Kohl
literally means 'cabbage'. Intellectuals liked to play with that meaning of
his name at the early days of his reign. Now he is sometimes beeing referred
to as having been the Bimbeskanzler. Bimbes is a slang word from Kohls home
area, the Palatinate, meaning money.
> The left in all western countries should be pushing for much tighter
> monitoring of the finances of political parties.
That will teach a lot of how big money is buying power, but the left should
not fall into the trap, believing sophisticated laws could stop this
process.
Johannes