Literally: “sitting meat” / Meaning: “the ability to stay in a sedentary position for an extended period of time”
There’s a wonderful saying in Germany: Jeder Gast ist gern gesehen, teils beim Kommen, teils beim Gehen (“Every guest is a pleasure to see, partly when coming, partly when leaving”). Just about everyone has made the experience that it’s not always easy to get a visitor to clear the place out. Especially when there’s still beer in the fridge.
Visitors who tend to overstay their welcome have, by popular parlance, a lot of Sitzfleisch. The word is not only surprisingly old—it has been documented since the 17th century—but also quite versatile. For example, a child who simply does not want to sit still on his or her butt can be accused of not having a Sitzfleisch. Sometimes Sitzfleisch simply refers in the literal sense to the muscular and fatty tissue in the buttocks. There are undoubtedly people with an extraordinarily attractive Sitzfleisch.
In a figurative sense, the term Sitzfleisch refers to the ability to hold out for a long time, for example in a job. Some people are said to have been given a high position in the company not because of their outstanding competence, but simply because it was their turn after many years of sorting files.
