German Soldier Slang Alter - elder; superiors, usually the company commander Alter Mann - old man; with the Afrikakorps used for Italian meat-products (Fleischkonserven) Ami - American soldier Anschiß - crap on; criticism from superiors Aus der Traum - The dream is over; a slogan painted by German soldiers near the end of the war expressing the surreality of their situation Banditen - bandits; partisans in occupied territories 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 - tin necktie; Knight's Cross Da war der Grosse Hund los! - The big dog was unleashed there!; All hell broke loose Dachschaden - Roof damage; a head wound Donnerbalken - thunderbeam; latrine (which was a simple log over a pit) Drahtverhau - barbed-wire entanglement; military-issue mixture of dried vegetables Eisenbahn - iron road; railroad Eiserne Kuh - iron cow; canned milk Etappenschwein - rear swine; REMF Fahrkarte - a ticket; a miss, a shot that travelled into the distance Feigling - coward 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 - cease fire; a cigarette break Freischärlerunwesen - pestering by guerrillas; guerrilla activities Frontgemeinschaft - front-line comradeship; community Frontkämpfer - front-line soldier Fußlappenindianer - Footwrap Indian; Infantry Gabelschwanzteufel - Fork Tailed Devil; P-38 Lightning Gebirgsmarine - Mountain navy; nonexistant or unheard of military branch Gebetsbuch - prayer book; a Hauptfeldwebel's notebook, usually stored tucked into the open middle button of his tunic Gefrierfleischorden - order of the frozen meat; the East Front Medal Gift - poison; giftig: poisonous, toxic Goldfasan - Golden pheasant; derogatory slang term for high-ranking Nazi Party members Gröfaz - acronym for Größter Feldherr aller Zeiten; derogatory slang term referring to a title initially publicized by Nazi propaganda to refer to Adolf Hitler during the early war years; literally, the "Greatest Field Commander of all Time". Gulaschkanone - goulash cannon; field kitchen Halseisen - neck iron; the Knight’s Cross Halsschmerzen - 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 Hilfswillige - "hiwi"; volunteer forces usually made up of Soviet volunteers serving in non-combat capacities Himmelfahrtskommando - Ride to heaven command; a deployment with little chance of survival hinrotzen - to sniff back one’s snot; get into hasty cover Hitlersäge - Hitler saw; an MG42 Also named Singende Säge (singing saw), Knochensäge (bone saw) or Hitlersense (Hitler scythe) HJ-Spätlese - vintage Hitler Youth; 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 “march along with in spirit” Hundemarke - dog tag; the German identity disc Intelligenzstreifen - intelligence stripes; stripes on the trousers of the general staff Itaka - Italienischer Kamerad; Italian Comerade Jabo - Jagdbomber; Fighter-bomber; a shouted warning to take cover from aircraft Kadavergehorsam - carcass obedience; absolute duty and blind obedience till death Kantinenorden - Order of the Cafeteria; the War Merit Cross Kattun - cotton; or denim; to receive heavy fire Kettenhund - chain dog; a Feldgendarm (military police) Knarre - Rattle; rifle Kindersärge - children's coffins; small, wooden antipersonnel box-mines Koffer - suitcase; a heavy grenade Kolbenringe - piston rings; the double litzen on the arm of a Hauptfeldwebel Kriegsgericht - court-martial; a bad meal Kriegverlägerungskreuz - War Displacement Cross; War Merit Cross (in other words, one who was displaced or removed from the war) Krüppelgarde - crippled gard; Volkssturm Landser - historical term for a German infantryman Lametta - tinsel; medals and tresse langmachen - to make long; take cover, lay down Latrinenparole - latrine passwords; gossip Lysol - a sharp schnapps drank by occupation troops in France Makkaroni - macaroni; an Italian Mündungsschoner - muzzle cap; a bad soldier NegerSchweiß - black mans sweat; coffee Oberschnäpser - Oversnapper; an Obergefreiter Panzer-Anklopf-Gerät - Panzer knocking device; (as in knock at a door); term for the 37mm Pak 36 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 Punkt zwölf Rehbock - twelve point buck; A soldier who had signed up for a full 12 year enlistment Querschläger - ricochet; an unpopular soldier Rabatz - to kick up a fuss; used for many unpleasant situations, great disorder, violent enemy fire Rasputitsa - slang for watery, mud-filled trenches or landscape in Russia Reichsheini - slang nickname for Reichsführer der SS Heinrich Himmler Ritterkreuzauftrag - Knight's Cross job; suicidal mission robben - crawl; low crawling Rückgrat der Armee - Backbone of the Army;an Obergefreiter, also the experienced Landser die Sahnefront - cream front; occupied Denmark; a lot of food, minuscule fighting Sanka - Sanitätskraftfahrtzeug; field ambulance Sandlatscher - sand traipser; an infantrymen in the 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 Schweinereien - scandalous acts; (lit.: "acts of a pig") crimes against civilians Soldaten in Zivilkleidung - soldiers in civilian dress; Partisans Spiegelei - fried egg; the German Cross in Gold Spund - a young soldier or recruit Stalintorte - Stalin cake; stale bread stiften gehen - to move it; to flee Taschenflak - pocket Flak; a pistol Tiefflieger - strafer; , an idiot Untergefreiter - Under Gefreiter; (a non-existent German military rank); a civilian V3 - miracle weapon after the V1 and V2; 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 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 Important Disclaimer! - This is a non-political web page dealing with the history, equipment, life and campaigns of the World War II German airborne soldier (Fallschirmjäger) and World War II reenacting. This website is contains historical information as well as reenacting and living history information. This information includes reenactment photos, historical information covering operations, equipment and photos of World War II Fallschirmjäger in action. The information is catalogued and presented to preserve a clear eyed view of military history and present to the public an accurate representation of a World War II German airborne unit. We do not tolerate or condone any form of racism, radical or extremist activities, or persons with supremacist, fascist or racist political motives or beliefs and we do not support nor glorify the reprehensible policies of the Nazi Party. We do not tolerate, support, or condone any activities of any neo-nazi party organizations, any extremist, anti-immigrant or anti-semetic organizations.
			Question? Feldpost der feldwebel. Back