Joshik Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 (found this on the web... please forgive any misspellings...) Some Common German abbreviations found in CM: Ausf. Ausführung Model or variant Bef.Wg. Befehlswagen Command Vehicle Flak Fliegerabwehrkanone Anti-aircraft Gun F.H. Feldhaubitze Field Howitzer gep., gp. gepanzert(er) Armored Gr.W. Granatwagen Mortar (trench); rocket projector Gw. Geschützwagen Gun vehicle (i.e., Self-Propelled Mounting) I.G. Infanteriegeschütz Infantry Gun Jgd.Pz. Jagdpanzer Hunting Tank (a heavily armored turretless S.P. antitank mounting usually equipped with a weapon more powerful than that of the comparable turreted tank) Kfz. Kraftfahgrzeug Motorvehicle (used as prefix to early ordnance designations) Kraftwg., Kw. Kraftwagen Motorvehicle; car; van L/- (Kaliber) länge Caliber Length (of gun – e.g. L/48: gun barrel length 48 times caliber) le. leicht(er) Light m. mittlerer Medium Pak. Panzerabwehrkanone Antitank gun PzKpfw. Panzerkampfwagen Tank (literally "armored combat vehicle") PzSpw. Panzerspähwagen Armored Reconnaissance Car (Vehicle) s. schwer(er) Heavy SdKfz. Sonderkraftfahrzeug Special Motor Vehicle (used as prefix to ordnanace designations) SPW Schützenpanzerwagen Infantry Armored Vehicle Stu.G. Sturmgeschütz Assault Gun (Vehicle) Stu.H. Sturmpanzerhaubitze Assault Howitzer (vehicle-mounted weapon) Stu.K. Sturmpanzerkanone Assault Gun (mounted in Sturmgeschütz, etc. – see above) Wg. Wagen Vehicle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 Gr. W is Granat Werfer - Grenade thrower, or mortar. You have it listed as "wagen" yet below, you give Wg as the abbreviation for wagen. [ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshik Posted January 17, 2002 Author Share Posted January 17, 2002 whoops! You're right... I was trying to read the tiny text, and I must have read the wrong line. My bad! -Joshik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 I love the German ability make huge long nouns and then strange abbreviations from them. When I lived in Germany I had a friend in the Luftwaffe who had a title that was about 40 letters long. It translated to something like "Officer in charge of squadron anti-aircraft missile maintenance". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Affentitten: I love the German ability make huge long nouns and then strange abbreviations from them. When I lived in Germany I had a friend in the Luftwaffe who had a title that was about 40 letters long. It translated to something like "Officer in charge of squadron anti-aircraft missile maintenance".<hr></blockquote> I think the operative term is "compound nouns" rather than just one long noun, they mash together several smaller ones to make one word, and you are 100 percent right. No one does it better. Panzergrenadierlehrregiment We have nothing remotely close to that in English, except perhaps antidisestablishmentarianism. You are right also about trade names; A Stabsbrieftaubenmeister was a pigeon post NCO (carrier pigeons), a Waffenoberfeldwebel was a weapons maintenance NCO, etc. It seems the least martial trades also had the longest names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 Compound nouns? Of course. I really had no idea that was the correct term after years as an English grammar teacher and journalist. The longest example that is commonly given as an actual German noun and title is "Donaudampschiffartsgeselleschaftsbeamter". There may be a couple of rogue letters in my rendering, but it translates as "Officer of the Donau Steamship Company". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaBellum Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 1.SS-Pz.Div.LSAH 1.Schutz-Staffel-Panzer-Division-Leib-Standarte-Adolf-Hitler Has there ever been a more complicated name for a military unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike8g Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 Affent... you can stretch that "Donau.."-thingie even more: "Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänspatentinhaber" Quite unusual, but grammatically correct. Translates as: "Holder of a captains patent of the Donau Steamship Company" [ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: mike8g ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike8g Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 Affennt... "Officer in charge of squadron anti-aircraft missile maintenance" I guess it must be something like: FlAbwRakGeschwInstOffz long title: Flugabwehrraketengeschwaderinstandsetzungsoffizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted January 18, 2002 Share Posted January 18, 2002 mike8g: Something like that! My mate used to laugh about it all the time. He loved saying it to English speakers when they asked him what he did. Is the kapitänspatentinhaber suffix historically valid, or is it just a bit of fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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