It means 'recklessly extravagent' in English and has something to do with attracting sheep in High German.
Raymond.....This might help explain the German/Swiss German distinction.
Swiss German (
Schweizerdeutsch,
Schwyzerdütsch,
Schwiizertüütsch,
Schwizertitsch) is any of the
Alemannic dialects spoken in
Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are called Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of
Liechtenstein which are closely associated to Switzerland's.
Linguistically, Swiss German forms no unity. The linguistic division of Alemannic is rather into
Low,
High and
Highest Alemannic, varieties of all of which are spoken both inside and outside of Switzerland. The reason "Swiss German" dialects constitute a special group is their almost unrestricted use as a spoken language in practically all situations of daily life, whereas the use of the Alemannic dialects in the other countries is restricted or even endangered.
The dialects of Swiss German must not be confused with
Swiss Standard German, the variety of
standard German used in Switzerland. Even though Swiss Standard German is influenced by the Swiss German dialects to a certain degree, it is very distinct and any native speaker will immediately note the difference. Most natural Swiss dialects have some degree of a sing song quality to them and can be most easily distinguished to the ear from German by this.
The Italians put Swiss German (Svizzero-Tedesco) into a slightly larger group (Tedesco Alemanno) which encompasses the speech in parts of Southern Germany and the Alsace region in France. Within specifically Swiss German (Svizzero-Tedesco) they break it down generally to West Swiss German and East Swiss German as well as the "highest" German from the mountainous cantons, and also Basel German and Zurich German are in separate categories.
