Derogatory terms for Usonians in your native languages?

With the Norwegian government recently deciding to massively increase the US military presence in this country, I just really want to have some derogatory way of referring to Usonians in the Norwegian language. The problem is that I cannot find any good word for this: existing words fall short; foreign words I'm familiar with either don't translate well, or don't sound good when loaned, or aren't easily understood; and I'm having a hard time coming up with a brand new word to fill this gap myself.

I'm hoping that by asking here that I might be able to find some inspiration, or perhaps even be enlightened about a Norwegian-language term that I didn't know before.

56 comments

seppo: septic tank; yank
- "Seppo" is my favorite when speaking English, it felt kinda weird to use at first because it looks vaguely Japanese or Finnish (indeed Seppo is a Finnish name and {説法|せっぽう} means "preaching") but I quickly grew fond of the word.
  
  oh shit there's a furigana markdown for lemmy.
  
  Rhyming slang is for some reason so funny to me.
  {Apples and pears| stairs }
  {Dead horse| tomato sauce }
- Both often full of shit
- Septic is totally my favorite.
I've definitely just heard people in Czech refer to Americans as burgers. not very creative of course
- You are what you eat
наглосаксы naglosaxy, a play on the words наглый nagliy (petulant/insolent) and англосаксы anglosaxy (Anglo-Saxons)
As a commie, I don't think there's anything more insulting than calling me what I am: an american.
- Ppl from central and south america, and the caribbean, generally resent the Usonians usurpation of that term, because americas originally referred to both continents. ppl from Bolivia, Ecuador, or Haiti are americans.
- Those are truly fighting words.
I’ve been told the origin of the word “gringo” comes from somewhere in Latin America, the people telling US soldiers to leave: “green” (the color of the uniforms), and “go”. That one seems topical but it’s unlikely many Americans will get in a huff over it, not really seen as a “bad” word.
Since I’m an American, I’m trying to think of words that the typical trooper would get offended at (but also not problematic). “Bubba” kinda works. Soldiers are also suuuper sensitive about the possibility that some other guy is screwing their wife back in the US, so maybe some Norwegian word that plays off that could work.
Edit: Also, American soldiers really get off on the idea that they are superior to normal Americans. Only natural, given how deeply Americans lick their boots. Maybe you can pick the most boring, normal “American” name you can think of like “Kevin” and call all of them that. I think that would get under their skin.
- "Boot" for the troops specifically
- Given that the word "gringo" almost certainly predates the existence of the United States, I'd question that etymology.
  
  The most likely origin of "gringo" is from "griego", so the original meaning was basically "someone who speaks unintelligibly"
- A Mexican taxi driver once told me that "gringo" came from "green go" as well, but his explanation was that once you get your green card, you go. He definitely joking, of course, but interesting that there are two versions of the "green go" etymology.
- Why would Hispanic people say "green go" instead of "lárgate verdeños"?
  
  because they would ignore anything that is not in english
- Gringo isn't usually used to refer specifically to usonians though.
A surprising amount of people at my workplace (and in the mosque) very much know the Maoist Standard spelling AmeriKKKa.
Even in the Estonian language, the usual term is "jänki", quite literally meaning "yankee". Or rather, "YanKKKee".
- In Finnish it's also "jenkki" as in a yankee. And AmeriKKKa itself is "Jenkkilä" which I suppose could translate as yankeeville or something.
In swedish we say “jänkare” as a derogatory term, you don’t have anything similar?
- Isn't that just Yankee pronounced in a swedish accent?
  
  Sure is, still really fun to say
Do you have "yankee" in Norwegian? A lot of Americans don't like being called that for some reason
- Gets called yankee
  \ immediately thinks about doodle
- We do have yankee, I just think we can do better.
I've heard some ndns on the rez use pkweshgas which means cracker/crackers.
Gringo is evergreen
Peendos (пиндос). And US is called Peendostan
- Got our ass (?)
  
  I don't know where this term comes from, but it does sound really funny. So yes, got your ass
Jankes, Amerykaniec pretty mild stuff. But I do like the british „seppo”.
Also, lol, lmao at this site
https://slurs.info/slurs/americans
EDIT: Honestly Krauts have it best, because they made a whole song lmao
- "Ami Go Home" was honestly kind of an inspiration for this thread
if you can find a word that sounds like and signifies "trash", it could be good. simple insults are good. "Yankee trash" etc. in the US being called "trash" (not garbage) is ainsult that catches people off guard (because it's not a cussword or gross) and plays into the ideology of certain people/families having a "culture of poverty" that makes them unable to rise in the totally-not-fake meritocracy. growing up, it's a scold families might use in private to sanction against styles of dress or poor manners. "don't be trash/trashy".
of course some people say it to friends in familiarity, but among strangers it would be... not good. I saw two middle aged women in a grocery store parking lot threaten to murder each other with it last winter.
- it's kind of funny, in dialectal Norwegian the word "boss" means "trash/garbage" but it's identical to the word "boss" as in one's boss or the boss in a video game.
  People also do just straight up use the English word "trash" sometimes...
  
  As an American who has always called my supervisor boss, I love this.
- This works for toki pona: ma jaki means "trash land" or "gross land" or "the land of trash".
  Also kinda sounds like yanqui too so double points.
  
  sina jan pi toki pona‽
Could go with amerifat. Yankee might be cliche, but anyone from south of the Mason Dixon line will get gigatriggered by it.
- Eh, I don't think weight is a good thing to use as an insult, necessarily.

56 comments