German Lesson

Two-part weekend German lesson:

Flak: an acronym derived from a classic German compound word Flieger Abwehr Kanone (anti-aircraft gun) that has made it into common usage.

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Enhanced Interrogation Techniques:

Well, "enhanced interrogation techniques" is a fairly decent English translation of the Gestapo euphemism "verschaerfte Vernehmung" which was the code word for torture in the Third Reich. Look it up.

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Update: Underbelly's chief military strategist, whose arm has a tendency to flail unexpectedly into an upright position, says the German language is great at this sort of thing.

In Munich there’s the Feldherren Halle which figured in the 1923 Putsch with statues of great captains. It got bombed flat. At some point, someone referred to Hitler as the “Groesster Feldherr Aller Zeiten” – greatest general of all time – which got shortened to Grofatz. Goebbels was then dubbed the Groesster Quatschkopf Aller Zeiten, greatest dickhead of all time. Groquatz.