# All Slavic languages: colloquial words for "German"



## Athaulf

In another thread, Cajzl posted these excerpts from an old Czech chronicle (interestingly, I can make more sense out of this than out of modern Czech ):



cajzl said:


> *Král český syna Václava jmieše *(= měl)*,*
> *ten již králem uherským korunován bieše* (= byl)*.*
> 
> *Durynk přěd komnatú stáše *(= stál)
> *a svého časa ždáše *(= ždál)*.*
> 
> *Jindřich s Ješkem vždy u Švábóv biešta* (= byli, dual)
> *a škodu jim velikú činiešta* (= činili, dual)*.*
> 
> Text of the chronicle is here.



I'm curious whether the author here refers to Swabians in particular, or to Germans in general? In Croatian and Serbian, _Švabo_ is often used as a colloquial word for Germans in general. In some contexts, it can sound as a (relatively mild) ethnic slur, but in many cases it has no disparaging meaning. (Also, if I were a non-Swabian German, I'd probably prefer to be called "Swabian" than "Mute". )

Do any other Slavic languages use the name of Swabians to refer to all Germans? Are there any other Slavic examples of using the name of a particular German region or Germanic tribe to refer to all Germans (like e.g. "Alemanni" in Spanish and French)?


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## Thomas1

We use in Polish _Szwaby_ refering to Germans. It is colloquial; it has disparaging overtones, so one wouldn't really expect to see it in a newspaper. I think you can come across its derivative -- _szwabski_ -- more often in usage.


Tom


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## Kriviq

In Bulgarian шваби is disparaging. However, when we refer to Germans` martial spirit, we call them прусаци - Prussians.


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## Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

As for Czech, "šváb" with a lowercase š means "cockroach" nowadays - as does "rus", oddly enough! Anyway, with an uppercase Š, it means just "Swabian" now, although back in the day it could have been extended to all Germans much like "Graecus" was extended to all Hellenes from one particular tribe.

Current derogatory words for Germans include the bland "Němčour" and the more colourful "skopčák" (derived from "s kopce" - "downhill" - due to the mountainous nature of the Czech-German border). There's also "kraut", but that could be a recent (WW2-era) borrowing from English (after all, Czechs eat a lot of sauerkraut too).

Germany is sometimes referred to as "rajch" (as in "the Reich") in highly informal speech, but it isn't necessarily disparaging at all.


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## Emmanon82

In Ukrainian we call Germans - німці. But  Germans who came to Western Ukraine and Zakarpattya in 18 century called themselves "shwabs".

What about cockroaches-sometimes our people call them прусаки.


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## nexy

In Serbia, we say "Švabe" (singular "Švaba"). The word "švabo" is used in Croatia.


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## Ptak

Russian: немцы (nemtsy).


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## Athaulf

Ptak said:


> Russian: немцы (nemtsy).



Could you please elaborate on this name in Russian a bit? In Croatian, _Nijemac_ and _Njemačka_ are the official words for _German_ and _Germany_; they both come from the same root as the Russian _немец_ (we all call them "Mutes" ). On the other hand, I've seen _Германия_ used as the word for Germany in Russian; this word doesn't exist in Croatian, except as the ancient Roman name for the lands north of the Roman Empire. Are _немец_ and _Германия _actually the official Russian words for _German_ and _Germany_ (it sounds a bit strange to me that the names of a country and its people are totally different)?

Also, does some derivation of "Swabian" exist as a generic name for Germans in Russian, as it does in Croatian and, apparently, Bulgarian and Polish?


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## Stripped

Athaulf said:


> Are _немец_ and _Германия _actually the official Russian words for _German_ and _Germany_ (it sounds a bit strange to me that the names of a country and its people are totally different)?



This is correct. One of the hypotheses is that the word "немцы" is akin to "немой" (mum) thus denoting foreigners who could not speak Russian.

On the other hand, "германцы" is used too although its meaning is limited to the description of the germanic (barbarian) tribes.


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## Brian P

Stripped said:


> This is correct. One of the hypotheses is that the word "немцы" is akin to "немой" (mum) thus denoting foreigners who could not speak Russian.



I think you meant to say "dumb" not "mum".  Actually, it's better to translate немой as "mute" because "dumb" can also mean "stupid".


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## Kolan

Stripped said:


> On the other hand, "германцы" is used too although its meaning is limited to the description of the germanic (barbarian) tribes.


From the stories in Russian about the WWI, "германец" was a general name for Germans. (1914-1918). It still can be understood in the same way.


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## Kolan

Athaulf said:


> Also, does some derivation of "Swabian" exist as a generic name for Germans in Russian, as it does in Croatian and, apparently, Bulgarian and Polish?


In modern Russian "швабы" are not associated with the entire German nation. It can be understood, if at all, only as a certain part of Germans, like Bavarians, but has no current use.


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## Wikislav

nexy said:


> In Serbia, we say "Švabe" (singular "Švaba"). The word "švabo" is used in Croatia.


In Croatia, the pejorative ethnonym _Švaba/Švabo_ started in use since WW1, and it is now used mostly in vulgar slang; the official cultivated term is _'Nijemac'_. Starting with lowercase as _'švabe'_, it means cockroach insects there. Other dialectal names are also _'N_*é*_mec'_ in northern Kaykavian, and _'Tuj_*é*_škan'_ (= foreigner, strager) in coastal Chakavian, the last being divergent from most other Slavs.


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## ilocas2

There's a known Czech funny poem from times of communism.

Včera večer v parku
našla jsem tam marku
ležela tam spoustu dní
byla totiž východní

Yesterday evening in park
I found there mark (German currency)
it lay there lot of days
becuase it was eastern (eastern mark - from Eastern Germany)

The words in the poem may vary


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## Selyd

In Ukrainian:
*німець* - man (від *німий* - dumb)
*німча* - boy
*німчак* - man
*німчура* - man (scornfully) 
*німці - *people
*німчура - *people (scornfully)
*німкеня, німка* - woman
*шваб, пруссак* - part of people
*германці* - народи германської групи


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## marco_2

In Polish:

*Niemcy - *Germany
*Niemiec - pl. Niemcy - *Germans
*Szwaby, Szkopy *-  pejorative: Germans
*Szwab - pl. Szwabi / Szwabowie *- Germans from Swabia 
*Niemra - *pejorative: a German woman
*Prusak - pl. Prusacy* - Germans from Prussia
*prusaki - *regional for cockroaches
*Germania - *poetic for Germany
*Germanie / Germanowie - *people belonging to Germanic tribes
*germański , teutoński - *applied to Germanic tribes


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## tyhryk

In Ukrainian we say the next words.
Germany - Німеччина
Germans - німці
German man - німець
German woman - німкеня.


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## trance0

In colloquial Slovene we use 'švab/švaba' as a pejorative name for all Germans not just for Swabians. In Standard Slovene we use 'nemec' which apparently has the same meaning and origin as in all Slavic languages. 'Germani' refers to all Germanic nations in Slovene and is never used for Germans only.


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## ilocas2

I wonder if Czech "skopčák" and Polish "szkop" are somewhat related.

There is also a saying, when someone is eating quickly - "padat jak Němci do krytu" - to fall like Germans in the bomb shelter

Padá to do tebe jak Němci do krytu. - It falls in you like Germans in the bomb shelter.


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## Deem-A

tyhryk said:


> In Ukrainian we say the next words.
> Germany - Німеччина
> Germans - німці
> German man - німець
> German woman - німкеня.



None of which is colloquial.


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## tyhryk

Deem-A said:


> None of which is colloquial.


Well, Ukrainian is *my* native language, so I know what I write. 

That's why

*Germany - Німеччина*
*Germans - німці*
*German man - німець*
*German woman - німкеня. *


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## Deem-A

Мы что-то не понимаем друг друга. Я всего лишь сказал,что ваши примеры не имеют никакого отношения к сленгу,а являются полноценными словами украинского литературного языка. Разве это не так?


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## tyhryk

Deem-A said:


> Мы что-то не понимаем друг друга. Я всего лишь сказал


"None of which is colloquial".
So I reply You: all that Ukrainian words in my both threads of this theme are *colloquial *in Ukraine.  


And there are Your words, разве не так?


Deem-A said:


> *Не смотря на то,что я родился и вырос на Украине,я не владею украинским*( не говоря уже о польском), *настолько*,чтоб оценить,в какой степени он связан с польским языком,но тем не менее, вряд ли в Польше нас поймут.. а я говорю по собственному опыту.


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## Deem-A

But I speak Ukrainian well enough to notice when a word is colloquial or not.If those words are colloquial,please tell me how officially would be Germany,German(man) Germans,and German(woman)


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## tyhryk

Deem-A said:


> If those words are colloquial,please tell me how officially would be Germany,German(man) Germans,and German(woman)


The same words: Німеччина, німець, німці, німкеня.

And what is Your variation of Ukrainian colloquial words in this topic?


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## Duya

And what is your understanding of the word "colloquial"? Apparently different than the one of the rest of us. Hint: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloquial.


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