plum
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plum
A sweet, juicy stone fruit with smooth, usually bluish or purple skin and an elongated pit.
Im Spätsommer backen wir immer einen Kuchen mit frischen Pflaumen aus dem Garten.
In late summer, we always bake a cake with fresh plums from the garden.
You can recognize the meaning from the context. If it is about eating or baking, the fruit is meant. If a person is being addressed directly, it is an insult. If it is about the garden or trees, the tree is meant.
Ich esse gern Joghurt mit frischen Pflaumen.
I like eating yogurt with fresh plums.
As an insult, 'Pflaume' (idiot/klutz) is very colloquial and is often perceived as not very strong, but still derogatory. It is usually used in informal situations among friends or in sports.
Er hat den einfachsten Pass nicht angenommen, was für eine Pflaume!
He didn't receive the easiest pass—what an idiot!
When referring to the fruit, typical verbs are 'pflücken' (to pick), 'essen' (to eat), or 'backen' (to bake). Common combinations are also 'Pflaumenkuchen' (plum cake) or 'getrocknete Pflaumen' (dried plums/prunes).
Meine Oma macht den besten Pflaumenkuchen der Welt.
My grandma makes the best plum cake in the world.
In Austria and southern Germany, the word 'die Zwetschge' is used almost exclusively for a particular subspecies of plum that is more oval in shape.
Für diesen Schnaps verwenden wir nur reife Zwetschgen.
For this schnapps, we use only ripe damson plums.
fool / idiot
'der Trottel' and 'die Pflaume' can both be used derogatorily for a clumsy or incompetent person. 'Trottel' is more direct and often means that someone is acting stupidly or simple-mindedly. 'Pflaume' is more colloquial and can sound somewhat mocking, especially when someone is not good at something. Important: 'die Pflaume' is normally first of all a fruit. As an insult, it is understood only from context.
Beim Fußball rief jemand: „Was für eine Pflaume!“, weil der Spieler den Ball nicht traf.
During the soccer game, someone shouted, "What an idiot!" because the player missed the ball.
Sie fühlte sich wie ein Trottel, weil sie den Termin vergessen hatte.
She felt like an idiot because she had forgotten the appointment.