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Landser Lingo ...Wehrmacht slang terms..

Discussion in 'WWII General' started by sniper1946, Nov 7, 2010.

  1. sniper1946

    sniper1946 Expert

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    Landser Lingo / der Erste Zug
    This is an excellent list of original Wehrmacht slang terms that are not often found in publications. They are organized as follows: -German Phrase: “literal translation”; actual meaning .
     
    belasar and ULITHI like this.
  2. Gebirgsjaeger

    Gebirgsjaeger Ace

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    Good find Ray, but he made an little error the term: Mündungsschoner: “muzzle cap”; a bad soldier " didn´t mean a bad soldier it means the Condom!
     
  3. sniper1946

    sniper1946 Expert

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    Landser Lingo
    Translation by Bradley R. Hubbard
    This is an excellent list of original Wehrmacht slang terms that are not often found in publications. They are organized as follows: -German Phrase: “literal translation”; actual meaning . The original text can be found at:
    As in every army there were slang expressions used in the colloquial language of the Soldiers of the Wehrmacht. These expressions are and were difficult for outsiders to understand.
    Aal: “eel”; torpedo
    Alter: “elder”; superiors, usually the company commander
    Alter Mann
    : “old man”; with the Afrikakorps used for Italian meat-products (Fleischkonserven)
    Anschiß: “shit on”; criticism from superiors
    aussteigen: “to step out”; euphamism for leaving a destroyed ship, plane, or tank
    a.v.: proper abbreviation for Arbeitsverwendungsfähig which means “one who is able to be used for work” but disqualified from combat duty (k.v.). Used here as a pun for ausgezeichnete Verbindungen which means “excellent connections”

    Bauchbinde: “gut bind”; belt
    Beutegermane: “Booty-Teuton” foreign volunteer, also used for the Volksdeutsche (perhaps inferring that they were collaborating exclusively for the benefits)
    Blechhut: “sheet metal hat”; helmet
    Blechkrawatte:“sheet metal necktie”; the Knight’s Cross

    Donnerbalken: “thunderbeam”; latrine
    Eiserne Kuh:“iron cow”; canned milk
    Emil: the German name “Emil”; a pilot

    Fahrkarte: “a ticket”; a miss, a shot that “travelled” into the distance
    Feldküchensturmabzeichen: “field kitchen assault badge”; the War Merit Cross

    Fernkampfmedaille: “long distance fighting medal”; the War Merit Cross (suggesting the holders were far from the actual fighting when they earned it)
    Feuerpause: official command/term for “cease fire”; a cigarette break
    Fliegerbier: “pilot beer “; lemonade
    Franz: the German name “Franz”; an observer in a plane
    Fußlappenindianer: “Footwrap Indian”; Infantryman

    Gebetsbuch: “prayer book”; a Hauptfeldwebel’s notebook
    Gefrierfleischorden: “order of the frozen meat”; the East Front Medal
    Gulaschkanone: “goulash cannon”; field kitchen

    Halseisen: “neck iron” the Knight’s Cross
    Halsschm
    erzen: “neck ache”; had by someone who wants to earn the Knight’s Cross
    Heimatschuß: “homeland shot”; a light wound that would send a Soldier home
    Heldenkeller: “Hero cellar”; an air raid bunker
    Heldenklau: “Hero thief”; an officer who collects stragglers for redeployment
    Himmelfahrtskommando: roughly, a “Ride to heaven command”; a deployment with little chance of survival
    Himmelsabwehrkanone: roughly, an “Anti-heaven cannon”; an onboard physician in the Kreigsmarine
    hinrotzen: literally, “to sniff back one’s snot”; get into hasty cover
    Hitlersäge: “Hitler saw”; an MG42
    HJ-Spätlese: “a late/vintage Hitler Jugend”; the Volkssturm
    Hoffnungsbalken: “Hope bars”; the tress on an officer candidate’s shoulder boards
    Horst Wessel Suppe: “Horst Wessel Soup”; Meat and other good things that “marschieren im Geiste mit”/ “march along with in spirit” (in other words, good things that should be in the soup and aren’t. but are there in spirit. A huge pun on the famous Horst Wessel Lied)
    Hühneralarm: “Hen alarm”; a late alarm (coming from the expression "erst das Ei, dann das Gackern"/ “first the egg, then the cackle”)
    Hundemarke: “dog tag”; the German identity disc
    Hurratüte: “a Hurrah! bag”; helmet

    Intelligenzstreifen: “intelligence stripes”; stripes on the trousers of the general staff
    Itaka:short for “Italienischer Kamerad”; Italian Comerade

    Kantinenorden: “Order of the Cafeteria”; the War Merit Cross
    Karo einfach: “Easy Diamonds”, a card-game reference; stale bread
    Karussell: “Carousel”, “Roundabout”; air combat where the opponents circle around each other
    Kattun: “cotton” or “denim”; to receive heavy fire
    Kettenhund: “chain dog”; a Feldgendarm
    Kiste: “crate”; a plane
    Knarre: “Rattle”; rifle
    Koffer: “suitcase”; a heavy grenade
    Kolbenringe- “piston rings”; the double litzen on the arm of a Hauptfeldwebel
    Kriegverlägerungskreuz: “War Displacement Cross”; War Merit Cross (in other words, one who was displaced or removed from the war)
    Krüppelgarde: “crippled gard”; Volkssturm
    Küchenbulle: “kitchen cop”; a cook
    Kurbelei: Luftkampf
    k.v.: proper abbreviation for kriegsverwendungsfähig meaning “fit for use in war”, used here as a pun for keine Verbindungen “no connections”, kann verrecken “can croak(die)”, or krepiert vielleicht “to death perhaps”
    k.v.H.: proper abbreviation for kriegsverwendungsfähig Heimat meaning “fit for use in war at home", used here as a pun for kann vorzüglich humpeln “can convincingly hobble”

    Lametta: “tinsel”; medals and tresse
    langmachen: “to make long”; take cover, lay down
    Latrinenparole: “latrine passwords”; gossip
    Leithammel: “bellwether” (some kind of ram);an Unteroffizier
    Lysol: (I think this is the brand of disinfectant); a sharp schnapps drank by occupation troops in France

    Makkaroni: “macaroni”; an Italian
    Maskenball: “masquerade”; popular harassment for instructors who constantly change into different uniforms
    Mündungsschoner: “muzzle cap”;

    NS-Röhre: “National Socialist tube”; a U-Boat
    Oberschnäpser: “Oversnapper”(?); an Obergefreiter
    Panzer-Anklopf-Gerät: “Panzer knocking device” (as in knock at a door); term for the 37mm Pak
    Papieroffizier: “paper officer”; someone in a propaganda company
    Papiersoldat: “paper soldier”; someone in a clerical unit
    Pappkamerad: “cardboard comrade”; a human cutout for target practice
    Parteihut: “party hat”; helmet
    Partisanen: “partisans”; lice
    pumpen: “pumps”; German exercise called Kneibeugen, often used for disclipine

    Querschläger: “ricochet”; an unpopular soldier
    Rabatz: “to kick up a fuss” used for many unpleasant situations, great disorder, violent enemy fire
    Ratschbumm: (phonetic sound?); a Soviet direct fire gun where the report is heard as the shot hits
    Reichsheini: "slang nickname for “Reichsführer der SS Heinrich Himmler”
    robben: “crawl”; slang for low crawling
    Rückgrat der Armee: “Backbone of the Army”; and Obergefreiter, also the experienced Landser

    Sandlatscher: “sans traipser”; an infantrymen (Afrika Korps?)
    Schleifer: “grinder”; a brutal training officer, with tankers it also meant a Panzer in need of repair
    Schmalspuroffizier: “narrow gauge officer”; the Sonderführer ranks that wore narrow shoulder boards
    Schlumpfschütze: “smurf soldier”; a bad soldier
    Schütze Arsch: “soldier ass”; the “last” and worst soldier
    Spargel: “asparagus”; the periscope on a U-boat
    Spiegelei: “fried egg”; the German Cross in Gold
    Spund: “bung”; a young soldier or recruit
    Stalintorte: “Stalin cake”; stale bread
    stiften gehen: “to move it”; to flee

    Tante Ju: “Aunt Ju” the outdated but still-used transport plane Ju 52
    Taschenflak: “pocket Flak”; a pistol
    Tiefflieger: "strafer", an idiot

    Untergefreiter: “Under Gefreiter” (a non-existent German military rank); a civilian
    V3: (the last German “miracle weapon” after the V1 and V2 rockets); derogatory for Volkssturm
    verheizen: “to burn”; to senselessly sacrifice soldiers

    Wanzenhammer: “bug hammer”; a pipe (also used to smack bugs with apparently)
    Wehrbeitrag: “war contribution”; to conceive a child during leave
    Wolkenquirl
    : “cloud whisk”; a helicopter

    Zielwasser: “prize water”; schnapps
    Zigarettenbüchse: “cigarette tin”; the gas mask canister, which was usually used for other things
    Zwölfender: “Twelver”; a career soldier whose term is 12 years, especially used for a Stabsfeldwebel

    :D
     
  4. Gebirgsjaeger

    Gebirgsjaeger Ace

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    Hahaha, thats funny you know more than i do as an member of this Forum!
     
  5. sniper1946

    sniper1946 Expert

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    as the duke would say! "that'll be the day"..;):D
     
  6. Gebirgsjaeger

    Gebirgsjaeger Ace

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    Yes Hombre! Muaahhahaha
     
  7. Mehar

    Mehar Ace

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    Kettenhund was used to describe the S.S. wasn't it? At least, in the final days of the war.

    Or maybe it was Kettlehund?
     
  8. Gebirgsjaeger

    Gebirgsjaeger Ace

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    Mehar, Kettenhunde was a description for the Wehrmachts and SS Military Police the Feldgendarmen.
     
  9. Spartanroller

    Spartanroller Ace

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    Yep. definitely the Chain dogs were the Field Coppers/monkeys/MPs. You see 'Kettlehund' on a couple of inferior forums as a misspelling, but don't think it was ever actually used. maybe as a joke for Gulasch Kannonieren?
     
  10. Gebirgsjaeger

    Gebirgsjaeger Ace

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    Gulaschkanonen are the most important things in war! Without them you have no warm meals and as we always said in the Army "Ohne Mampf kein Kampf"! This means no fight without an good meal before it!
    The Kettenhunde word was used during war because no one liked this idiots. The same today!
     
  11. Skipper

    Skipper Kommodore

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    That's excellent. Some are not too diffcult to guess , calling their allies "Makkaroni". I wonder if they were called "Sauerkraut" in return :p
     
  12. Spartanroller

    Spartanroller Ace

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    I suspect other names came fairly quickly ;)
     
  13. Gebirgsjaeger

    Gebirgsjaeger Ace

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    My Grandpa told me that the italians had some tinned meat with the sign "A.M." on it and the italians called them something like "Asino Morte" Dead Donkey or they called it "Armer Mussolini" which is Poor Mussolini. And they called the Feldjäger aka Kettenhunde also Bachstelzen (wagtails) for the reason that they do have a shield on their breast too!
     
  14. Mehar

    Mehar Ace

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    I'm actually reading a book right now called the Life and Death of Afrika Korps, it too mentions the "Armer Mussolini" bit too!
     
  15. Gebirgsjaeger

    Gebirgsjaeger Ace

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    Mehar, my Grandpa was in Africa with the "Brigade Ramcke", and from there he knows this food. But he said the "collected" Corned Beef from the English Army was much better.:D
     
  16. Mehar

    Mehar Ace

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    So in a way, some slang was essentially universal among the theater, interesting.

    Can't forget the British Jam or Italian oil either!
     

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