"Stopfen!"... ???

[1Sascha]

Being German myself, I mostly like CMBB's german sound files. BUT: What the hell is "Stopfen!" supposed to mean? I hear it frequently and in different variations (from infantry units) and it just sounds plain wrong and silly IMO .

For the non-German speakers: The noun "Stopfen" translates as "plug" (barrel plug, butt-plug , etc.) while the verb "stopfen" means to stuff ("sich vollstopfen"=to stuff oneself with food, "eine Pfeife stopfen"=to stuff a pipe with tobacco, etc.)

Now either my knowledge of my own language's military-speak is too narrow, or someone made a funny translation error...

Sascha

[Horus]

ich hab mich ja auch schon gefragt was das bedeuten könnte

have me asked the same question

i like to play with humans who speak my language too so tell me if you are interessted.

[Onehitsky]

Well in american vernacular to shoot some one was sometimes refered to "pluggin em full of lead!"

Or maybe they were referiing to butt plugs as a means of dealing with dysentry?

[1Sascha]

Horus? TCP/IP oder PBM? Bin gerade etwas beschäftigt (ziehe bald in eine andere Stadt), also könnte PBM etwas langwierig werden. Wenn Du heute abend (Donnerstag) Lust auf ein TCP/IP Spiel hast, schreib mir 'ne Mail:

Sascha.Gliss@t-online.de

S.

[Scheer]

Originally posted by 1Sascha:

Being German myself, I mostly like CMBB's german sound files. BUT: What the hell is "Stopfen!" supposed to mean? I hear it frequently and in different variations (from infantry units) and it just sounds plain wrong and silly IMO .

For the non-German speakers: The noun "Stopfen" translates as "plug" (barrel plug, butt-plug , etc.) while the verb "stopfen" means to stuff ("sich vollstopfen"=to stuff oneself with food, "eine Pfeife stopfen"=to stuff a pipe with tobacco, etc.)

Now either my knowledge of my own language's military-speak is too narrow, or someone made a funny translation error...

Sascha

Hi all,

when I was in the german Bundeswehr ( Pioneers )

" stopfen " means stop firing. That was in the early eighties.

Wie ich vor unendlich langer Zeit beim Bund war ( Pioniere ) , hiess es beim schiessen auf der Bahn immer " Stopfen ... " , wenn alle Welt aufhören sollte zu schiessen. Umm, das war zwar vor über zwanzig Jahren ....

Der Spiess meinte damals, das käme noch von den alten Vorderladern.

[Thomm]

Originally posted by Scheer:

Der Spiess meinte damals, das käme noch von den alten Vorderladern.

HeHe, that certainly shows some class!

[Warphead]

I didn't know that too. But Mike8g explained that it is a very old term and means "cease all fire immediately". As explained above it seems to have meant the plugging of the barrel when black powder rifles were front loaded.

[Horus]

@1sascha you have mail

[Bruno Weiss]

You sure your hearing that correctly. Could it be somefink like "Stopfen doin dat".

[Tomlin]

As Warphead said, "stopfen" means "cease all fire". I have heard it way too often during my time of military service back in the 80's.

Tomlin

[Moon]

"Stopfen" is the proper military command for "cease fire". It was during WWII, and still was when I was in the Army early-nineties. Looking at my newest issue of the "Reibert" (handbook for the Bundeswehr soldier) it still appears to be.

Martin

[Michael Dorosh]

Bear in mind that the German language has undergone dramatic changes since 1945. In the written form, for example, Sütterlin script is - to my understanding - no longer common, as it was in 1939. (Check out the banner on my GD site for an example of Sütterlin - it was seen in many Soldbücher, for example, and on some cuff titles. Hitler's autograph is, I believe, in Sütterlin also)

The spoken form has evolved as Germany became more cosmopolitan following the war. Old timers in Germany drew a distinction between personal pronouns, for example - some Germans would never use the familiar form of the word "you", for

example, would not be used even between (in one example I know of personally) a father-in-law and his son-in-law. Hitler drew that distinction quite sharply, I understand, and few were invited into that circle of friends where we would say "you" in English rather than the formal 'thou'

Other archaic words like "schweinhundt" have (again, as far as I know) disappeared from the language - even the term "fraulein" is seen as sexist and archaic (that according to my Grade 10 German teacher, at any rate...)

Military language, too then, has no doubt evolved.

We had an interesting discussion here where I pointed out that the Waffen SS did not use the word "Herr" when addressing superiors. M.Hofbauer dug up some original source material that confirmed it. But the point here is that just because you speak German today, it does not mean you have any idea of the historical usage of the language. One German speaker got told me I didn't know what I was talking about with regards to the use of the word "Herr" - based solely on his use of the language in the last 10 years.

Think about it though - how many conversations have been recorded for posterity? How many newsreels were shot in 1944 showing casual conversations, or even men under fire giving orders? Very few. We honestly have no idea how they talked. Extrapolating from current usage is fine - but will only take you so far.

I see a reference to der Spiess above; prime example of what is going on in this case - military jargon is also sufficiently unlike civilian language to make things confusing - this is true also in English. Does this not translate literally as "the Spear"? A civilian would have no idea you refer in actuality to the Hauptfeldwebel (company sergeant major). Wish I actually spoke German so I knew what you said about "die Mutter die Kompanie." Any chance of letting me in on it?

In the Canadian Army, reference to "meatheads" brings up very specific connotations that would be lost on a civilian, for example...

[ September 26, 2002, 02:14 PM: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]

[1Sascha]

LOL! Sorry to burst your bubble Michael, but "schweinhundt" was never a german word. The only time I'm hearing it, is in american video games or english/american movies...

The correct term is "Schweinehund" and it's still being used to this day. Of course language develops over time, but there's not that big a difference between today's german language and that of WW2 (now WW1 and pre-WW1 are different matters).

There's *plenty* of audio material from WW2 and the pre-war-era available and from what I've heard so far, they didn't use too many words or expressions that a German in the year 2002 wouldn't understand ("trend words" used by young people being an exception to this rule, but I guess this is the case with every new generation).

There is a notable difference however, especially when it comes to German sound documents from the Third Reich: People tended to emulate the way NSDAP officials were speaking, using a weird, grave and precise way of pronouncing every single word. Other than that however, I don't see a lot of differences in spoken german language of 2002 and 1941.

Guess now it shows that I didn't serve my time in the Bundeswehr (did civil service for the Red Cross instead). Had I been in military service, I surely would've known the meaning of "Stopfen" in the military context.

Sascha

[Michael Dorosh]

Originally posted by 1Sascha:

LOL! Sorry to burst your bubble Michael, but "schweinhundt" was never a german word. The only time I'm hearing it, is in american video games or english/american movies...

LOL - I got my info from Sgt Rock comics...

The correct term is "Schweinehund" and it's still being used to this day.

This is the term I meant, then - I had it on authority it wasn't as commonly used, but I don't doubt it varies from region to region, either. Interesting to know, though, so thanks.

Of course language develops over time, but there's not that big a difference between today's german language and that of WW2 (now WW1 and pre-WW1 are different matters).

Now THAT is fascinating to me - care to elaborate?

There's *plenty* of audio material from WW2 and the pre-war-era available and from what I've heard so far, they didn't use too many words or expressions that a German in the year 2002 wouldn't understand ("trend words" used by young people being an exception to this rule, but I guess this is the case with every new generation).

There is a notable difference however, especially when it comes to German sound documents from the Third Reich: People tended to emulate the way NSDAP officials were speaking, using a weird, grave and precise way of pronouncing every single word. Other than that however, I don't see a lot of differences in spoken german language of 2002 and 1941.

I wonder how reliable the sources are? Check out Hollywood movies and TV from the 1950s, for example. If you based your knowledge of the English language on movies and TV from era, you would conclude that words like "****", "pregnant" or "God-damn" didn't exist.

Guess now it shows that I didn't serve my time in the Bundeswehr (did civil service for the Red Cross instead). Had I been in military service, I surely would've known the meaning of "Stopfen" in the military context.

So - did the Red Cross have any jargon a soldier wouldn't know?

[-E]

Originally posted by Bruno Weiss:

You sure your hearing that correctly. Could it be somefink like "Stopfen doin dat".

ROFL... bears repeating!

[Andrew H.]

It's interesting that CMBB has German slang in it that even some native speakers don't recognize!

I was playing a QB with a bunch of 38(t)s vs. a KV-2. The 38(t)s fired on the KV-2 to no effect, as you might imagine. After one shot, the gunner said "Scheisse! Keine Wirkung!" What was particularly cool was not what he said, but how he said it - he sounded like he *really* meant it and was starting to get rattled. So, great voice acting, whoever did that.

[Gyrene]

Originally posted by Bruno Weiss:

You sure your hearing that correctly. Could it be somefink like "Stopfen doin dat".

As in "Stopfen mit gefingerpoken"?

Gyrene