List of terms used for Germans
There are many alternative ways to describe the people of the Germany, though the official designated nationality as well as the standard noun is German. (see also demonym). In practice, Germans are often referred to differently. Historically "German" has had some very different meanings. During the early renaissance "German" merely implied that the person spoke German as a native language, as there was no Germany in the form of a nation-state until 1871. Until the time of the German unification most "Germans" were called after the region they lived in, examples include Bavarians, Brandenburgers and Hanoverians. Some other terms are humorous or derogatory slang, and used mainly by people from other countries, although they can be used in a self-deprecating way by German people themselves. Other terms are serious or tongue-in-cheek attempts to coin words as alternatives to the potentially ambiguous standard terms.
English Slang
Kraut
In former times, Kraut was used as a colloquial expression for tobacco, especially loose tobacco for pipes. Today it is sometimes used for marijuana.
Since World War II, Kraut has, in the American English language, come to be used as a derogatory term for a German. This is probably based on Sauerkraut, which was very popular in German cuisine at that time. The stereotype of the sauerkraut-eating German dates back to long before this time, though, as can for example be seen in Jules Verne's depiction of the evil German industrialist Schultz as an avid sauerkraut eater in "The Begum's Millions."
Maybe the origin is somewhat older: Raw sauerkraut is an excellent source of Vitamin C. Captain James Cook always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages, since experience had taught him that it was an effective remedy against scurvy. Later, on British ships, sauerkraut was mostly replaced by lime juice (for the same purpose). But German sailors continued with the use of kraut, calling their British colleagues "limies" and being similarly called "krauts."
Jerry
Jerry was a nickname given to World War II German soldiers, the German armed forces, or collectively the entirety of Nazi Germany. Although the nickname was originally created during World War I [1], it didn't find common use until WWII.
Jerry has analogues from different eras in Tommy (British), Charlie (Vietnam), and Ivan (Russians).
The name is likely an alteration of the word German. Others have claimed that the WWI German helmet, shaped like a chamber pot or jeroboam was the initial impetus for creation, this is almost certainly revisionist history.
Fritz/Hun/Heinie
English soldiers employed a variety of epithets for the Germans. "Fritz" was popular early in the war, with "Jerry" favoured later. According to Brophy, "Hun," a journalistic creation, was used almost exclusively by officers, as was the borrowed French "Boche." The Americans and Canadians referred to Germans, especially German soldiers as "Heinies", from the pet form of the common German male proper name Heinrich.
Boche
Boche entered the English language in 1914, from the French slang. In French it meant something close to "rascal," and was applied by French soldiers to Germans in World War I. Its origins can be traced to the French word "Allemand" meaning "German" in eastern French dialects, close to the German border the variant was "Al(le)moche", altered contemptuously to Alboche by association with "caboche", a slang word for "head," which literally meant "cabbage" (compare. "tête de boche", French for "German" in an 1887 French slang dictionary).
Other countries
The Austrian ethnopaulism for a German is Piefke. Like its Bavarian counterpart Saupreiß (literally: sow-Prussian) the term Piefke historically characterized the people of Prussia only. Its exact origin is unclear, but it was meant to be derogatory most notably because of the term’s Polish roots: Referring to every Prussian as Piefke, which is a typical example of a Germanized Polish family name (Piwka), suggested that all Prussians were merely Germanized Poles. Since Prussia and its Eastern territories ceased to exist, the term nowadays refers to the cliché of a pompous (Protestant Northern) German in general and a Berliner in particular. However, the citizens of the free Hanseatic cities and the former Northern duchies of Oldenburg, Braunschweig and Mecklenburg are quite offended by the terms Piefke and Saupreiß, since they take some pride in having staunchly resisted Prussian expansionism as independent (federal) states and have no Prussian history at all.
In Denmark Pølse Tysker (Banger Germans) is a term for the stereotypical overweight smug German without good manners.
The common (especially Northern) Italian ethnopaulism for a German is crucco, which roughly translates as pighead. Etymologically, the term most likely derives from the Serbo-Croatian word kruch, which means bread. In WW II Italian soldiers originally referred to the Yugoslavian combatants as crucchi and the North-Eastern war zone was dubbed terra crucca. In the course of the war the term underwent a shift of meaning: During the German invasion the Italian partisans called the German soldiers crucchi. Today it’s a disrespectful way to address people from all German speaking regions in general (cruccolandia), even the people of South Tyrol, who are Italian citizens themselves. Another popular but albeit tongue-in-cheek way to address their Northern neighbours is barbari, alluding to the numerous historical invasions of Germanic tribes.
In Dutch the most common term for Germans, after the regular/official ones is "mof". It is today regarded as a derogative term, used exclusively for Germans and fully embodies the Dutch resentment of the German occupation during the Second World War, which has only been gradually fading since the late '90s.
In the late 16th century the area now known as East Frisia and Emsland and the people that lived there were referred to as ""Muffe". At the time that the Netherlands were by far the richest country in the whole of Europe, and these people were looked down upon greatly by the Dutch. The area of Western Lower Saxony was at that time very poor and a good source for many Dutch people looking for cheap labour. The inhabitants of this region were known to be rather reserved and were often described as "grumpy", "rude" and "unsophisticated" by the Dutch. Later the term was used to describe the whole of Germany, which, at the time, wasn't much better of economically than Western Lower Saxony, mainly due to the various wars waged on its territory by foreign powers. The term seemed to have died out around 1900 but returned following the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940.
The Norwegian general word for German is tysker or tyskar. Pølsetysker is also used in Norway with the same meaning as in Denmark.
The term used in official contexts (and widely used elsewhere) is nemets (single, Template:Lang-ru) or nemtsy (plural, Template:Lang-ru). The roots of the term in Slavic etymology, meaning "mute". The term initially was used to designate any non-russian-speaking person (foreigners), but now it is fixed for germans only. The name "Fritz" was also widely used in WWII for "german".