[Lexicog] Ethnic nicknames

[Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin]

The Arabs in the Middle East call all Europeans "farandji" (sg.) ;
farandjiyye (pl.),
obviously referring to Franks, the most memorable for them Europeans who
came
as crusaders to Jerusalem in the Middle Ages.
It is interesting that Ashkenazi Jews (the Jews speaking Yiddish) have
similar nickname for Sephardic Jews (Spanish and Oriental Jews) Frenk,
Frenkim, while Sephardi Jews use the nickname Vusvusim for the Ashkenazi
Jews.
Vusvusim is formed from the interrogatory particle Vus (from German
"was?") [as it frequently happens, that person who did not understand or
did not listened well, reacts with repetitive
Vus? Vus? (What? What?).
There is also strange nickname given to Germans by Slavic people,
namely: nemtsy (those who are deaf, having in mind that they do not know
to speak their (Slavs') language.
Italians call German Tedesco, referring probably to Tewtons, while
Spaniards and French
call them Aleman (from Latin "Alemani", one of Germanic tribes.)
Russian call Ukrainians "Khokhly", referring to the element of hair
style, while Ukrainians
call Russians either Moskali (those who have their capital in Moscow) or
katsapy (etymology unclear, I think from the kind of onomatopaic verb
similar to dial. German zap-zarap (to grab). 
 
French people also have several nicknames in Russian culture. When they
were defeated under Napoleon in 1812, many of them were coming to
Russian villages asking for piece of bread.
"Cher ami, je vous prie un morceu du pain." (Dear friend, please give me
a piece of bread). From the first two words of this sentence the Russian
concocted the word "sheramyzhnik" - meaning wonderer, beggar; in the
later period Russian called the French "liagushatnik" (from the word
lyagushka - "frog"), because the frog is a part of French diet, while it
is abhorrent for Russians.  
 
Best regards,
 
Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin
Adjunct Professor of Jewish Literature
Gratz College
7605 Old York Rd.
Melrose Park, PA 19027
 
Tel.: 215 635-7300 x 161
Fax: 215 635-7320
email: hsheynin at gratz.edu
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lexicography/attachments/20060522/44b50b45/attachment.htm>