A Whole “New”, But Not Surprising, Way To Define "Mintz"

The Mintz family has an inside joke regarding the meaning of “mintz.” When we all gather to share a meal, we often discuss the next meal. Most families simply enjoy the meal in front of them, but the Mintzes tend to think ahead. So, our brother-in-law Jim defined the verb "to mintz" to mean simultaneously eating one meal and discussing the next.

Now, imagine our surprise when we picked up our local newspaper, the Diario Vasco, one Saturday in November to see Mintz in the headline! (The headline actually used the term “Mintzodromoa.”) We were intrigued. What on earth could a mintzodromoa be? And what is a mintzalaguna (a word in the sub-headline)? Well, it turns out that “mintz” means “to talk” in Basque! Who knew? But if you know the Mintzes, you probably aren’t surprised. We’ve been in school more than a year now, yet none of our teachers, most of whom speak at least some Basque, ever made the connection between our last name and the Basque word.

The Basque language, known as Euskara, is believed to be one of the few surviving pre-Indo-European languages in Europe – which means it is older than the Romance languages. The origin of the language is not conclusively known, but it is not linguistically related to any known living language. During Franco’s era, the use of Euskara was essentially prohibited, but in the last 30 years the language has made a comeback. More than 90% of children in the Basque regions go to schools where the language of instruction is Euskara. Still, fewer than a million people speak Euskara. Our generation of Basques, the parents of current schoolchildren, went to school in Spanish, so many are not fluent in Euskara and struggle to help with schoolwork sometimes.

To encourage the more frequent use of Euskara, the local governments promote Basque cultural events and other programs. In November, Gipuzkoa (the Basque region where we live) celebrated “Euskaraldia,” a nearly month-long series of events encouraging citizens to speak Euskara on a daily basis. As part of the program, San Sebastian (and other cities) hosted Mintzodromoas and Mintzalagunas, which are discussion or conversation groups where people can practice speaking Euskara together. We think there are two different formats to the groups, thus the two different names. There also are Mintzakuadrillas (groups that meet more regularly) and Mintzapraktika (more general practice opportunities).

If you are wondering if we plan to learn Euskara so we can participate in this Mintzapalooza (our word), the answer is “no.” We have enough challenges learning Spanish! But we have learned many Basque words, mostly related to food, of course.

What does Mintz really mean? A quick google search leads to the following definition: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname; a habitational name from the city of Mainz in Germany. For what it’s worth, Mainz was founded by the Romans at the confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers (southwestern Germany) in the 1^st century BC. Mainz’s most famous citizen was Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, and there is a museum in Mainz dedicated to him that has two of the remaining editions of the Gutenberg bible. Mainz is also considered the wine capital of Germany, known for its Riesling and Silvaner. News to me after 22.5 years of marriage! Clearly we are adding Mainz to our list of future destinations and perhaps one day soon you’ll read a blog post about our visit.

Keep on “mintzing,” no matter how you define it!  

Shana & Jeff