faspa

English

Etymology

From Plautdietsch Faspa. Cognate to English vesper.

Noun

faspa

1. A light afternoon meal, observed in Mennonite tradition.
   • 2011, Milly Janzen Balzer, Heldin: Coming to Terms, Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse:

     [page 130] Tomorrow, a group of couples their age would come for “faspa.”

     [footnote] Afternoon lunch or tea. The word is possibly derived from “vespers.”

     [page 131] “You wait and see,” Franz said with a laugh, “those will be girls who will be left old maids! Why, what will people eat for faspa? I wouldn’t have married Hilda before I knew what kind of tvaybak she baked!”

   • 2005, Adele Dueck, Nettie’s Journey, Regina, Saskatchewan: Coteau Books, page 60:

     [page 60] “ […] Do you want something to eat?” ¶ “Oh sure, Mama. Nothing much, I had faspa at the farm. Maybe just some bread and ham and moos. […] ”
     [page 198] Faspa: Simple afternoon meal, often consisting of tweiback, cheese, jam, and cake.

   • 2001, Royden Loewen, “From the Inside Out: The World of Mennonite Diaries”, in Robert Wardhaugh, editor, Toward Defining the Prairies: Region, Culture, and History, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, page 69:

     Clearly indicating the spaciousness of their house are the notes that the Kroekers regularly hosted the worship service of the town’s largest church; and inevitably this was a time, too, when at least some of Margaretha’s brothers and sisters, the Pletts of Blumenort and Blumenhof, and other church friends from neighbouring villages would say for lunch and perhaps for Faspa.

   • 1988, Al Reimer, “Coming in Out of the Cold,” in Harry Loewen ed., Why I Am a Mennonite, Kitchener, Ontario: Herald Press, page 258:

     Occasionally I found myself sitting at the Sunday Faspa table with him at the home of one of my close friends, and observed him and listened to his casual comments with great attention.

Anagrams

• ASAFP, PFAAs