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Saturday 22 November 2008

Mind your language

Mind your language

English-speakers working in Russia generally go through a stage where they jokingly refer to a restaurant as a pectopah.

Naturally, German servicemen exhibited some of the same weary humour as British soldiers or schoolboys. So the Italian-issue tinned beef stamped AM (for Amministrazione Militare) was known to German soldiers as Arsch Mussolini (‘Mussolini’s Arse’) or alte Mann (‘old man’). The Italians said it stood for Arabo Morto or Anale Mussolini. Along the same lines, Blutwurst (blood-sausage) was known as Churchill-Pimmel (‘Churchill’s Prick’).

Food figures large in military thought. Boiled cabbage was known convincingly enough as Fusslappen, ‘foot-cloth’, or ‘toe-rag’ as an English tramp might have called it. Soya beans, promoted by the German government, were Nazibohnen (‘Nazi beans’), which indicates that the German army and Nazi forces were not at all the same thing.

The retreat from Moscow was called by some the Napoleon-Gedächtnis-Renne — the Napoleon memorial race.

The Luftwaffe were known as Schlipssoldaten (‘necktie soldiers’) since they wore ties as part of their uniform; the Pioneers were called Mädchen für Alles (‘Maids of all work); an NCO who had not gained the respect of the men was called a Leithammel (‘bellwether’).

The last-ditch Dad’s Army Volkssturm was nicknamed the Krüppelgarde (‘cripple-guard’) or HJ-Spätlese (‘late-vintage Hitler Youth’). Quite a complicated nickname was attached to the age group born in 1900 (since groups were designated by year of birth): Scheisshausjahrgang, because a 00 on a door indicated a lavatory.

Lice were called Kleiderpartisanen (‘clothes-partisans’); fleas leichte Infanterie (‘light infantry’); bed bugs schwere Infanterie (‘heavy infantry’).

Understatement is not solely an English trait if I understand the term Rabatz (‘fuss’) aright; it referred to any really unpleasant situation or heavy enemy fire.

I have no idea how widespread these slang terms were, but the worst of times always spawn grim wit.

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