DCHP-2

kraut Kraut DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Ethnicities, derogatory, extremely offensive, dated

  a person of German descent.

  Type: 6. Memorial — Kraut is a derogatory term for German people. The term is an abbreviation of "sauerkraut", a fermented cabbage dish popular in southern Germany and Austria. It was initially common practice to use kraut in compounds such as "kraut-eater" (see the 1915 quotation), which then likely gave way to the shortened form. OED-3 (s.v. "Kraut" (2)) notes that the term was originally used during WWI, and carried over to WWII and beyond. The term highlights the joint Canadian-British heritage and, more specifically, the joint military history, as reflected in Chart 1, where Canada leads, followed by the UK (see the 1915 quotation in the context of WW I). In the US, kraut in this meaning is not nearly as common (less frequent in the US by a factor of more than 10).

  See also: peasoup ((1)) (meaning 1a)  crawfish  square head  

  • The term is included for reasons of historical accuracy and completeness. It is not intended, as clearly indicated in the usage labels "derogatory" and "extremely offensive", as a term for current use or a term, meaning or usage that is in any way condoned.