Nicknames for the enemy (and perhaps your allies ?)

[Ron]

I think I know most of the nicknames the Allies gave to their enemies [including "Teds" for Germans in Italy.]
Question is what about everyone else?
For example;
What did the Soviets call the Germans?
Did the Germans really call Soviet soldiers "Ivan" ?
What did the Italians call the British? Surely not "Tommy" all the time?
What did the Japanese call their opponents?

If you can think of anymore please add.

Hi everbody

The above query was posted on another website (of which I am a member) that deals with WW2 matters.
I promised to ask my Triestinian friends what nicknames they remember or were aware of so do your best

[refolo]

HI! Ron,

I can help you with few...................

Italians called the English= "poms" sometime George because of your the King
The Italians called the Americans always "JOE".

The French called the Germans Craut
The Italians called the Germans "GNOCCHI", because they used to eat a lots of potatoes, which gnocchi is made out of it.

The Americans called the Germans ""SAUERKRAUT""
The Germans used to call us Flac.......Kartoffel, macaroni ( the first word I will tell you privately).

The Germans called the Russian " Ivan's"
The Japanese something to do with Rosie ( the famous radio-announcer) sorry I can't tell you the first word, I will check with my old man.

Maria aka refolo



[/b]

[macondo]

The only ones I recall were:

GNOCHI=GERMANS
CRUCHI=GERMANS(?)

By the way, gnocchi are kind of dumplings very popular in Italy.
Don't know the ethimology of CRUCHI....

[refolo]

Macondo I ""CRUCHI"" iera i Slavi..........

Maria aka Refolo

[macondo]

Macondo I ""CRUCHI"" iera i Slavi..........

Maria aka Refolo

Te ga ragion!!!!!

[babatriestina]

Ihave allways heard The crucchi as the Germans, the French called them les fritz ( from the name Frederick from Frederick The Great, or Les Boches

[macondo]

Ihave allways heard The crucchi as the Germans

Now I am really confused. Actually, I have a faint recollection to have heard cruchi been used for both the Germans and the Slavs (Titoists). Any help out there?

[AdlerTS]

there is a lovely quote from the movie "Forrest Gump".
Describing Vietnam war he says: We was always taking long walks, and we was always looking for a guy named "Charlie"

[refolo]

Beh!!!!

I didn't want to translate the word CRUCHI as a Triestini call the Slav, but Macondo knows what I meant, it would sound offensive to a certain people, as for French you're probably right Betta, considering that you know French better than me, for the rest of it I doubt.

Maria aka Refolo

[AdlerTS]

I've always heard cruco for the germans

[Nona Picia]

Ai tedeschi si diceva anche "Kartoffel", perchè erano noti come forti mangiatori di patate. OT

[refolo]

Adler......
you were instructed wrong......Cruchi stand for what they used to ask for a piece of bread...........

dame pice of malo cruca.... when I explained long time ago, I was called a discriminated person, but I don't care it's the truth.

No one was properly speaking either triestino or Italian, they try to do they best.......like I do in English, but that doesn't give them the reason
to denial , the bit of mistake in a proper speaking concerned.

If any others of yours friends, or any others mix friends as far as un-triestino concerned, it's not my fault, what I said it's what I heard after all we speak triestino? or any other language? which I do not speak
....by lingo!

Maria aka Refolo[/b]

[Bilbo]

no go capì sai de tuto quel che xe scrito, no go l'ingelse in punta de dito come betta e Adler , ma anche per mi cruchi xe i tedeschi... come gnochi, uguale uguale...

[Ron]

Hi Bilbo

Just when I was enjoying Maria in full flood you spoilt it by posting in Triestin/Italian.

Could you please either post only in English or provide a translation for us poor non-Triestin speaking mortals ?

Molte Grazie

e Auguri

Ron

[babatriestina]

You're all right
I cheched on my italian dictionary, I copy in Italian then I'll translate into English (OK , Ron? )
Crucco:(pop spreg)tedesco (estens) stupido ||Nome dato dai soldati italiani a quelli tedeschi durante la seconda guerra mondiale; all'orig. era appellativo dato agli slavi, derivato dalla voce serbo-croata kruh "pane"
Crucco (popular pejorative) German , ext. stupid || Name given by Italian soldiers to the Germans during II W War; at the beginning it was given to the Slavs, from the Serbian Croat word kruh- bread

( if my translation is a bit poor, excuse me, I hope you'll understand however)
But.. nobody had a look into the dictionary?

[Ron]

Ciao Baba

Perfetto

Grazie

Ron

[PeterG]

To help Ron, here is what Bilbo said in Triestin:

no go capì sai de tuto quel che xe scrito, no go l'ingelse in punta de dito come betta e Adler , ma anche per mi cruchi xe i tedeschi... come gnochi, uguale uguale...

Which in Italian, solely for Ron's information, is

Non ho capito tutto quel che c'è scritto, non ho l'inglese in punta di dito come l'hanno Betta e Adler. Ma anche per me 'crucchi' sono i tedeschi ... ugualmente come 'gnocchi'.
...

... and in English:

I have not understood all that has been said, for I do not have English at the tip of my tongue [actually he says 'at my finger tips'] like Betta and Adler. But for me too the Germans are 'crucchi' ... and equally 'gnocchi'.

The British used two expressions for a German soldier: jerry and kraut. 'Jerry' came from the slang English word for a chamber pot (vaso da notte) from the shape of the German army helmet; in the 19th century a large chamber pot was jocularly known as a 'jeroboam', shortened to 'jerry'. 'Kraut' derived from 'sauerkraut' (crauti), the popular German pickled cabbage.

What was the term used in Trieste for British soldiers? Was it tommy?

Peter

[PeterG]

What was the term used in Trieste for British soldiers? Was it tommy?

Sorry for that, I jumped in at page 2

I see it was answered on page 1 of this thread by Maria.

Peter

[babatriestina]

In Trieste the civil police ( after the war) was called "i cerini", I think from the helmet.
for Peter, sula punta dei diti in Italian is sulla punta delle dita o sulla punta della lingua

[Ron]

Baba

I believe I have touched on this subject before but I repeat it to save you (and me) looking for it.

During my stay in Trieste the Regiment quite often found itself working with the new local Police Force.
They had been equipped and largely trained by AMGOT (Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory) and part of their uniform was an American helmet painted white.
The Italians used to refer to the Police derisively as 'Cerinos' because with their white headress they resembled a safety match of that name.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stor ... 1931.shtml

The story and picture originally was posted on the BBC WW2 Archives