# teufelziege



## teufelziege

How many Dutch people are offended by this German word?

teufelziege


Thank You?


----------



## HKK

Funny topic. I had to look that up, it appears it means 'devil goat'. I think absolutely nobody would be offended by that.


----------



## teufelziege

HKK said:


> Funny topic. I had to look that up, it appears it means 'devil goat'. I think absolutely nobody would be offended by that.


 
Thanks, it's my user name and I had a Dutch person on another forum complain that it was offensive to Dutch people because of some underlying reference to Nazis/Hitler etc. I was very surprised to hear them say that and wanted the opinion of other Dutch people.

Thank you again!

Thomas


----------



## Frank06

Hi,


teufelziege said:


> I had a Dutch person on another forum complain that it was offensive to Dutch people because of some underlying reference to Nazis/Hitler etc.


Then that reference must be very very very, erm, underlying. 
I am getting quite curious about _why exactly_ that person thinks it's offensive ("underlying reference" sounds so incredibly vague as a reason to feel offended). Any chance to ask him or her?

Groetjes,

Frank


----------



## Suehil

Might it have been a German person who was offended?  (Deutsch and Dutch look very similar if you're reading fast. )


----------



## Timidinho

Never heard of it.


----------



## teufelziege

Frank06 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Then that reference must be very very very, erm, underlying.
> I am getting quite curious about _why exactly_ that person thinks it's offensive ("underlying reference" sounds so incredibly vague as a reason to feel offended). Any chance to ask him or her?
> 
> Groetjes,
> 
> Frank


This is his explanation of why it could be construed as offensive to a Dutch person. He thought that I was a German intially:



> Do you know what teufel ziege does mean ? Teufel (german) is devil and ziege (german) means goat.
> If you wrote ziege as siege it would mean occupied or victory (in a nasty way)
> 
> When you read fast you're some sort of devil who goes for victory, when I first read it I was a little shocked. After world war II some german words are inappropriate, especially for the Dutch.
> 
> Well known words are Sieg Heil, what means victory of prosperity (cure). Shouting this to Hitler, it meant that he was the cure who would have victory, we all know the lugubrious meaning of these words by now.


I personally don't see it...that's why I wanted to check with some other Dutch people.

Thanks everyone!


----------



## HKK

That explanation is so far-fetched. Some people need a lot of attention. Don't worry about it


----------



## Frank06

Hi,

Yesterday I deleted "Ziege resembles Sieg (see "Sieg Heil")" as a possible reason why the person would feel offended from my post because it looked too inane to me.
Teufelziege, the guy's explanation is too ridiculous for words. Don't bother about it .

Groetjes,

Frank


----------



## ThomasK

I had a quick look. It should be spelled "Teufelsziege" to be correct. And it is just a name referring back to superstition: goats were associated with the devil, and therefore were sometimes consider dangerous. 

And yes, all of a sudden, I find a connection with Hitler: there was a 'Gottelbock' (little-God devil), considered the leader of a herd, and Hitler as a "Teufelsziege" or as an "Oberteufel" (a chief devil). 

In general it is some kind of dysphemism, so as such no good as a nickname. But why is this at the Dutch forum? German speakerss might be able to give more information...


----------



## Suehil

Because the original question was whether or not Dutch people would be offended by the word.


----------



## Frank06

ThomasK said:


> And yes, all of a sudden, I find a connection with Hitler: there was a 'Gottelbock' (little-God devil), considered the leader of a herd, and Hitler as a "Teufelsziege" or as an "Oberteufel" (a chief devil).


Thomas, if one searches long enough, one can find connections with anything and everything. Your "connection" is based on one example from a website which is called "Assoziationsraum".
Don't tell me that this association is so deeply entrenched in the Dutch psychè that it justifies the statement that teufel(s)ziege is offensive to Dutch people...
Besides, Teufelziege already explained why that guy felt offended: because of an equally wilde and equally off the wall association involving "Ziege" and "Sieg".

Frank


----------



## ThomasK

Hoho, I just thought I was adding something new that might explain the term, etc. I did not wish to pretend that was correct. But I thought it might have explained a possible connection. 

I realize I no longer hold the truth, or only in my dreams !


----------



## Ktke

Well, the information ThomasK provided is interesting, but indeed, you can always find connections. It's weird that Dutch people in particular are supposed to be offended by a German nickname. I had no idea what it meant untill it was explained here. But ww2 was before my time I guess.


----------



## captainahab

First of all, being a Dutchman, I'm am in no way offended by the word Teugelziege. It takes a lot of imagination to see an insult in it. 
Second, the Dutch perfected swearing and cursing to an extend that, to my knowledge, is not seen in another language. We moved on from genitalia to the worst diseases you can imagine. It is not something to be proud of. The whole of the undereducated part of Holland is screaming 'cancer' here and there. 
But it is merely an example to show you that we Dutch are not very easily to offend, when it comes to curse words.


----------



## ThomasK

I think you're right, Captain, but as such devils and goats are not that pleasant to be compared to, but I certainly that the Dutch seem to have an unimaginable imagination in this respect.


----------

