Ossis and Amis

[Mingus 86]

At least in Oktoberfest were not Ossis, Wessies, Amis, Franks or Japs. Just Bayer and Preußn.

[fraufruit 42,671]

To me, Ossi and Wessi are just like saying Southerner and Yankee in the U.S. More of a geographic description. All of these words can be derogatory with the right adjective.

 

I'm fine with Ami. I'm not fine with scheiss Ami or scheiss Amerikanerin when directed at me.

 

The words themselves don't offend me and, to be honest, the negative adjectives don't offend me much any more. There are more important things for me to waste my nerves on besides other people's negative attitudes. Must suck to be them.

[Ragoro 38]

 

What really offends me is the German habit of making up cutesy nickname for everything.

Does this mean Canadians don't have any nicknames for items, places or persons?

 

 

its their omdern attempt to soften their unwieldy language that often sounds like someone chewing on a glass bottle

Do you would really want to argue about the sound of a language and if so what makes you think Irish English and Gaelic would sound so much better than other languages? :unsure:

[SJ1 2,053]

I notice in German it is the chen ending that makes things small and cute.

 

In english it is y on the end- ducky, kitty, mommy, tummy, ect.

 

So we do it as well.

 

I also never found German to be a unflattering sounding language. I much enjoy the way it sounds. I have heard it before but never understood the chewing glass reference.

[lilplatinum 7,142]

 

Does this mean Canadians don't have any nicknames for items, places or persons?

 

Of course not, hoser.

[Ragoro 38]

 

I notice in German it is the chen ending that makes things small and cute.

 

It's also the -lein ending that can make things cute (Kätzlein, Rehlein, Brüderlein etc) and here in Baden-Württemberg we have the -le ending like in Kätzle, Zügle, Bänkle, Hundele and so on. B)

[SJ1 2,053]

Well I will be honest, that does make comprehension harder for me, as I have found in German many words can be said a variety of ways, or half the time 20 words can be used in one sentence.

 

I have a lot of issues with understanding swabisch as the ending is usually cut off auf dem tisch is said as offemtish, leaving me thinking what the hell is an offen tisch. I need to be able to distinguish where the words end to fully understand, so I often get stuck. I have that a lot with my landlord, he says things I know, but I just do not understand the dialect. Though I have gotten pretty good at understanding the dialects in East Germany, lol, likely because that is what I was first exposed to.

 

As far as the cutesy things, it does not bother me, just can affect my understanding of the word. If people use chen I figure it out pretty easily.

but the others wotld throw me for a loop.

[DoubleDTown 395]

Dessa, thanks for starting topic. Interesting to see what people say on it. I love the poll feature, easy way to see a compilation of responder's thoughts.

 

Prior to SerenaJean1's posts of yesterday it would never have occurred to me that Ami is a pejorative term.

 

I don't think it is. Neither is Yankee.

 

Sure, some U.S. southerners might complain about "Yankees". And Central American's might spray paint "Yanqui go home". But that doesn't meant "Yankee" is a pejorative term. It just means the speaker doesn't like Yankees.

 

I think Ami and Yankee are legitimate, non-offensive ways to refer to U.S.-Americans.

 

Yours in Ami-hood, DoubleDtown

[lilplatinum 7,142]

 

But that doesn't meant "Yankee" is a pejorative term.

 

Hahaha you've never been to the south apparently. Or to any town with a sub par baseball team who has to hate on the best sports team in the world other than the Longhonrs.

 

The worst Yankee is that fucking Connecticuit carpet bagging George Bush.

[Ragoro 38]

 

The worst Yankee is that fucking Connecticuit carpet bagging George Bush.

Herbert Walker or Walker? B)

[DoubleDTown 395]

Remember that lawsuit Gabi S. brought claiming she was discriminated against in a hiring decision because of her DDR origins? It's interesting that the discriminator wrote "(-) Ossi" (meaning, a minus is she's an Ossi). The discriminator didn't just write "Ossi" alone, but added a minus in a circle.

 

That doesn't prove "Ossi" is not a pejorative term -- but in the context of this discussion it's interesting that the alleged discriminator added the minus. Did the alleged discriminator think merely writing "Ossi" wasn't enough to make clear that "Ossi-hood" is "bad"?

 

See the document yourself in this ARD program at 23:44 (23 minutes, 44 seconds): ARD on der SED-Millionen

[niacin 2]

 

Do you would really want to argue about the sound of a language and if so what makes you think Irish English and Gaelic would sound so much better than other languages?

 

1. In Irish English and Gaelic, we understand a joke when we hear it.

 

2. When spoken, the melodic inflections of Irish English (excepting from a few regions) and Gaelic (everywhere its spoken) sounds like the cool waters of the River Shannon flowing gently over green and rocky hills. ;)

[DanHessen 2,964]

I'm only offended when the Herms call me a "Ooooh-Essss Amerikaner"

[westvan 9,706]

So am I.

 

But I wonder why Canadians don't get referred to as kanadische-Amerikaner (Kanadi-Amis, perhaps?) since they apparently also come from Amerika according to the Germans.

[Ragoro 38]

 

But I wonder why Canadians don't get referred to as kanadische-Amerikaner (Kanadi-Amis, perhaps?)

So you're offended because Kanadier don't have a nickname like Ami?

Mexicans don't have a (German) nickname either... :o

[westvan 9,706]

:rolleyes:

 

Yet another know-it-all German on a message board for English-speaking expats.

 

I couldn't care less what you call me.

[lilplatinum 7,142]

What an Ossi may look like:

 

[El Jeffo 42,135]

What an SPD chairman may look like:

 

[dessa_dangerous 13,315]

 

Personally, I think it is time for the media to simply stop saying East and West Germany, just use the word Germany and stop the division.

I think in about 60 years, I'll be ready to agree with you, but I'm too much of a lover of history to want to see all signs of the incredible division that took place in this country wiped away forever--especially while so many people alive remember and lived through it. It is fascinating to hear about the ways East Germans and West Berliners lived and it would be a shame to pretend it never happened.

 

 

 

I feel the same way about the use of the words Black and White in the US. If the media would stop using those "descriptive" words, perhaps people would lessen their own use of them. It really shouldn't matter in a news report.

 

I worry about how we are going to describe people when we're not even allowed to mention what they look like.

 

 

"Ami" as short for "American" could be a slur, could be laziness depending on the source.

We need a third option here: good-natured nickname for people we have some connection to. Like when I call my co-worker Melanie "Melly". Right?

 

 

How do you find a "neutral" label that doesn't offend?

 

Most of them are neutral, and I, as a black American, find the term "African-American" annoying to no end. At least "colored" is an attempt at a description--"African-American" doesn't even make sense. I wonder if the Africans will regard me as an African when I go to Africa? Someone born in Africa and naturalized as an American is an African-American, if you like.

 

In many cases, I think it's not the term but the usage which matters. For example, I would not tolerate being called a Nigger back home, but after four years and a lot of hard work I can accept that the word Neger is to some degree not always intended as a slur here in Germany. I no longer tie people up and set them on fire when I hear it, which I consider to be indicative of a tremendous degree of integration on my part

 

 

If I was American, I would probably prefer to be called an "Ami" as opposed to a "septic" :-)

 

indeed

 

 

In Berlin:Kurt Schumacher Platz = Kutschi

Kottbusser Tor = Kotti

 

Görli, Schlesi, Boxi (Görlitzer Park, Schlesisches Tor, Boxhagener Platz)

 

 

I think Ami and Yankee are legitimate, non-offensive ways to refer to U.S.-Americans.

 

agreed :)

[Moondancer 5,723]

I think there is a big difference between forbidding the use of labling words and just dropping the use of them.

 

If I am writing a story for the newspaper about a cake baking contest for example, and write " the winner was a Black Ossi", instead of just the name. Does this add anything to the story? Or is it just some sort of sensationalism to sell papers? This is what I meant. Labels are often just added to keep the fires of discrimation burning in the media. They don't have to be forbidden, cause that is what free speech is all about, but a good writier should ask themselves if a lable adds or detracts from the real story.