Replies

Amis is a phonetic spelling af armee. I derives from our troops being stationed there. The Question, "Sind Sie in Die Americanisher Armee?" Received the answer, "Ja ich bin Armee." Since almost all Americans the Germans met were in the Army, a slang shorthand grew in which all Americans were "Amis." Being of German descent myself, It never occured to me to think it any more derogatory than us calling them Dutchmen.

Anything can be an epithet when we try hard enough. So, "smile when you say that pardner!"

Spiegel p***** me off. Smug, anti-American, tendentious, and clueless. Did I mention smug? Really, more smug and lecturing than leftist.

They must have been outraged to have been screwed with.

As for "amis" and translations, I used "bloody Americans," 'cause it sounded foreign and only mildly insulting. Some things you can't translate exactly.

Anyway, hope to screw with 'em in the future.

I really avoid putting any crude speech on the Web in any language and dislike to see it at all, but in this case, it's not gratuitous. The point needs to be made.

If any you enters the phrase, "scheiss amis" (using English characters) in google.com, you'll see that the phrase is still around, along with much other vulgar language. During WWII, it was the common phrase used (or "Amis" in more polite circles) to describe Americans. To rephrase it and save myself the humility of also using any vulgarity directly in English it means [excrement] friends.

To take it further, "Freunde" means "friends" in German. "Amis" is the French word for the same--not German. And you can imagine how French words contributed to emphasis in Germany during WWII and more recently.

Revisionism and censorship are in the nature of much of northeastern Europe whether under socialism or not. Russia is one example.

Here's a URL for the East and West German Propaganda Archive

Nazi and East German Propaganda Guide Page
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/index.htm

...and an example of contemporary Nazi propaganda.

**Warning**: The following is contemporary Nazi propaganda, and it is a vulgar slander against Churchill.

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Churchill and US Entry Into World War II
http://www.vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/9/3/Irving261-286.html

And here's a comment excerpted from the "About" page of the same site.

http://vho.org/About.html
"It is also Castle Hill Publishers' goal to defend human rights and to combat discrimination, especially when it is directed against the German people."
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Getting around revisionisms can easily be a lifelong study.