The German word Kraut when standing alone in English is used most frequently as an ethnic slur against Germans. Kraut is also used as an abbreviation for the foodstuff, sauerkraut.

Etymological foundations

In German, the term is rarely used alone.

Additionally, the term is used in compound nouns for many herbs, and also for cabbage and cabbage products:

• Rübenkraut = thick sugar beet syrup
• Bohnenkraut = Savory
• Unkraut = Weed
• Weißkraut = white cabbage (also called Weißkohl)
• Blaukraut or Rotkraut = red cabbage (also called Rotkohl)
• Sauerkraut = pickled sour white cabbage

Use in Slang

In former times, Kraut was used as a colloquial expression for tobacco, especially loose tobacco for pipes. Today it is sometimes used for marijuana.

Since World War II, Kraut has, in the English language, come to be used as a derogatory term for a German used mainly by U.S. soldiers fighting in Europe. This is probably based on Sauerkraut, which was very popular in German cuisine at that time. The stereotype of the sauerkraut-eating German dates back to long before this time, though, as can for example be seen in Jules Verne's depiction of the evil German industrialist Schultz as an avid sauerkraut eater in "The Begum's Millions".

Interestingly the per capita consumption of kraut in the USA during World War II was significantly higher than in Germany. Nowadays the average per capita consumption is twice as high as in the USA, ^[1] but still lower than in France.^[2]

An alternative explanation involves sailor jargon. Captain James Cook always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages, since experience had taught him that it was an effective remedy against scurvy. Later, on British ships, sauerkraut was mostly replaced by lime juice (which was not effective, as limes contain surprisingly low levels of vitamin C). However, German sailors continued with the use of kraut, calling their British colleagues "limies" and being similarly called "krauts." ^{[citation needed]}

Use in Music

Krautrock is a popularly accepted term for a form of highly experimental German post-Prog Rock of the late 1960s and 1970s. Krautrock was typified by acts such as Amon Düül, Kraftwerk, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Faust, Rammstein, Can as well as many others.

Kraut was the name of a New York punk rock band in the 1980s. Their song "All Twisted" was the first punk video to air on MTV.

Misc. Uses

Under the title "Krauts" J. Corinth described his experiences as a German prisoner of war in North Carolina and as immigrant to California (ISBN 3-935111-14-2).

Krauts is also an Irish language novel by Máirtín Ó Muilleoir about young Northern Irish students trying to find employment in Germany in the early eighties.

References

1. ^ http://www.greatlakeskraut.com/about/ Great Lakes Kraut: All About Kraut
2. ^ http://www.rezensionen.ch/buchbesprechungen/deutsche_kultur_deutscher_alltag/389678546X.html

See also

• Krautrock
• Pejorative terms for Germans
• List of ethnic slurs
• Pejorative words and phrases
• Terms of disparagement
• Insult

External links

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