Tell me, Liebchen, what watch?

[Coffee Break]

Hello everyone. I encountered this expression, "Tell me, Liebchen, what watch?", but am struggling to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means in the following sentences:

“He’s been living there ever since leaving Germany before the war.” She must have inherited this from her parents. They called it the war, not World War II. “Knows everything—”
“—about everything.” I knew the type.
“Just about. Knows every piece of recorded music.”
I pictured a fretful old garmento type hobbling on frayed slippers around a large gramophone. Tell me, Liebchen, what watch? Do you know that land where the citrus blooms? I wanted to make fun of him. “Another Knöwitall Jäcke,” I said. She caught my skepticism and my attempted humor.

- André Aciman, Eight White Nights, Third Night

This is a novel published in the United States of America in 2010. This novel is narrated by the nameless male protagonist. The protagonist meets Clara at a Christmas party in Manhattan. Two days after the party, Clara came to the protagonist's house at 8 o'clock in the morning and is bringing him to her friend, who knows a lot about recorded music.

Here, I wonder what the underlined expression means.
I learned in the dictionary that "Liebchen" means "sweetheart" in German, but I cannot grasp what "what watch" might mean...

I would very much appreciate your help.

 

[Tarheel]

You are right that "Liebchen" is a term of endearment. What that sentence means is anybody's guess.

 

[Coffee Break]

@Tarheel,

Thank you very much for the explanation.
So he is saying "tell me, darling, what watch".
Though I still wonder whether "watch" means a clock worn at a wrist, or the action of looking...
I sincerely appreciate your help.

 

[Tarheel]

@Coffee Break I assume that "watch" refers to the timepiece worn on the wrist.

 

[Skrej]

'What watch' is quoting the scene in Casablanca where the German couple are practicing their English, except their English isn't quite so polished as they think. Note that Mr. Leuchtag calls her 'sweetness heart' instead of 'sweetheart'. By asking 'what watch' instead of something like 'what time is it', he's translating literally from German, where one asks Wieviel Uhr ist es?-literally 'What watch/clock is it?' Her answer also is a direct translation of Es ist zehn Uhr (It is 10 watch/clock).

Mr. Leuchtag : Come sit down. Have a brandy with us.
Mrs. Leuchtag : To celebrate our leaving for America tomorrow.
Carl : Oh, thank you very much. I thought you would ask me, so I brought the good brandy. And - a third glass!
Mrs. Leuchtag : At last the day is came!
Mr. Leuchtag : Mareichtag and I are speaking nothing but English now.
Mrs. Leuchtag : So we should feel at home when we get to America.
Carl : Very nice idea, mm-hmm.
Mr. Leuchtag : [toasting] To America!
Mrs. Leuchtag : To America!
Carl : To America!
Mr. Leuchtag : Liebchen - sweetness heart, what watch?
Mrs. Leuchtag : Ten watch.
Mr. Leuchtag : Such much?
Carl : Hm. You will get along beautiful in America, mm-hmm.

The following line "do you know that land where the citrus blooms?" is a translated quote from the German writer & poet Goethe's poem "Mignon".

Do you know the land where the lemon-trees grow,
in darkened leaves the gold-oranges glow
a soft wind blows from the pure blue sky,
the myrtle stands mute, and the bay-tree high?
Do you know it well?
...

 

[Tarheel]

I thought "Wieviel Uhr ist es?" literally meant "What hour is it?" but it's been a long time since I took German.

 

[Coffee Break]

@Tarheel and @Skrej,

Thank you so much for the explanations.
Wow, so "what watch" was an excerpt from the movie Casablanca, asking what time was it now!
And that citrus blooming land has to do with the Goethe's poem. Now I finally grasp this mysterious conversation all thanks to you!

So he is quoting from the movie where the German couple practice English, and he is also quoting from a German poem. I now see it is all related to the German origin of that character in this novel!

I sincerely appreciate your help, for letting me understand.

 

[emsr2d2]

I thought "Wieviel Uhr ist es?" literally meant "What hour is it?" but it's been a long time since I took German.

That's exactly what it means. "Uhr" means "hour".

 

[jutfrank]

'What watch' is quoting the scene in Casablanca

Aha! I knew I knew this from somewhere! I've been racking my brains over this. Well found.

I thought "Wieviel Uhr ist es?" literally meant "What hour is it?" but it's been a long time since I took German.

Literally, it means something like 'How much hour is it?'

 

[Tarheel]

@Coffee Break It's Goethe's poem, not the Goethe's poem.

(I don't remember that scene from Casablanca, but I remember this: "We'll always have Paris." (Casablanca is one of the most quoted movies ever.))

A reference to Casablanca and a reference to a poem by Goethe -- both in one relatively short segment. No wonder that book is such a difficult read. (I would be spending all my time figuring things out.)

 

[Skrej]

'Uhr' means clock or watch, but clock is sometimes used as a synonym for hour in the English sense of 'o'clock'. Hence the translation error in Casablanca. It can also mean something like 'meter' or 'gauge'.

Similarly, 'stunde' can mean an hour (60 actual minutes), although it can also be a period or chunk of time (such as a lesson or a class).