> Erh, do you mean 'bei *den* Fischen'?
Yes, this is the correct usage. But dialectally/sociolectally it is
said <bei die Fische>, especially in this idiomatic saying. And it has
spread so throughout the republic, since it is also used somewhat
jokingly.
> I haven't heard of a f.sg. 'die Fische'. But I'm not a native speaker.
Just google "Butter bei die Fische": <<Ergebnisse 1-10 von ungefähr
144.000 für "butter bei die fische". (0,20 Sekunden)>>. There are
numerous written examples for the <de> variant of <die+der> as well:
<<Ergebnisse 1-10 von ungefähr 795 für "butter bei de fische". (0,14
Sekunden)>>
> Torsten
George
PS: <getz> is a hypercorrect form of <jetzt> "now;" typical of those
dialectal areas (esp. Rhineland-Westfalia) where in the local dialect
the [g] is usually converted into [j] (typical of Low German dialects),
e.g. jut, Jott, Jurke, Jans etc., so that people over there get the
impression that the High German equivalent must get a [g]. Hence <getz>
instead of standard German <jetzt>. A similar hypercorrect thing is
typical of those areas where standard Hochdeutsch [iç or ix] is
dialectally replaced by [iS] (in all Middle German dialects, from
Alsatia to Silezia). Not few native-speakers think that in standard
German all [iS]-es must be replaced by [iç/ix], so that they utter:
<Tich, Fich, Französich, Englich, optimistich> etc., as can be heard in
the European parliament whenever a certain German social-democrat MP
has his speech or asks parliamentary questions. :^)
<ma> short form of <mal>; e.g. ['hö-ma:] for Hochdeutsch <hör mal!>