Where does the nickname "Carpet-eater" in reference to Hitler come from?
N...@spam.please
thought hilarious. Where does this come from, his moustache? Thanks.
Chris
Tom Ensminger
I believe William Shirer also makes a reference to this, whether
true or not, it was alledged that Hitler would get into such a
rage that he would fall down on the floor and chew on the edge
of the first carpet available.
TheDrone
http://home.att.net/~governmentdrone/
casita
>In Churchill's Memoirs, he calls Hitler a "Carpet-eater" which I
>thought hilarious. Where does this come from, his moustache? Thanks.
It means he could, on rare occassion, have a temper.
Not, to be confused with a more vulgar reference.
M.J.Powell
>In Churchill's Memoirs, he calls Hitler a "Carpet-eater" which I
>thought hilarious. Where does this come from, his moustache? Thanks.
Probably wartime propaganda, from cartoons in newspapers showing Hitler
chewing carpets in fury at German failures.
Mike
Niklas Tötterman
>In Churchill's Memoirs, he calls Hitler a "Carpet-eater" which I
>thought hilarious. Where does this come from, his moustache? Thanks.
I don't recall where I read it from, but in the book was a description
of one of Hitlers hysterical "rage fits" where he started to chew on
the carpet. Hence the name...
--
Niklas Totterman | http://www.sit.fi/~nico
news.csc.fi is obviously out fishing again:(
Gord McFee
N...@spam.please wrote:
> In Churchill's Memoirs, he calls Hitler a "Carpet-eater" which I
> thought hilarious. Where does this come from, his moustache? Thanks.
It is referred to by Shirer amongst others, but most people close to
Hitler say it is a legend.
--
Gord McFee
I'll write no line before its time
Emmanuel Gustin
> thought hilarious. Where does this come from, his moustache?
One explanation I have read is that a "Tepichfresser"
(carpet-eater) is someone who wears down the carpet
by his endless pacing up and down. That sounds credible
for Hitler.
Emmanuel Gustin <gus...@NoSpam.uia.ac.be>
(Delete NoSpam. from my address. If you can't reach me, your host
may be on our spam filter list. Check http://hipe.uia.ac.be/cc/.)
Natalie Niebur
the same as our expression, "Chewing nails."
Gord McFee wrote:
> In <797tp7$8ci$1...@nntp6.u.washington.edu>, on 2 Feb 1999 22:21:27 GMT,
> N...@spam.please wrote:
>
> > In Churchill's Memoirs, he calls Hitler a "Carpet-eater" which I
EPotter
the place of Keith Joseph in a conservative think-tank. One of the
amenities of his office was a well-chewed carpet.
E.F.Schelby
>This was generally accepted >as a matter of fact among young
>Aericans (of whom I was one) >during WWII.
Do you have now a few second thoughts on what young Americans
(you among them) accepted as a matter of fact during WW II?
Cheers,
ES
Nele Abels-Ludwig
> I've heard that it's actually a German expression. "Chewing the carpet" is
> the same as our expression, "Chewing nails."
That's completely new to me :) No, "chewing nails" is "auf den Naegel
kauen". "In den Teppich beissen" is not an idiomatic expression in German.
"In's Grass beissen" on the other hand is, but means something
completely different :)
Nele
--
"Was Bombenpapp einmal verband, kriegt Menschenhand nicht auseinand'"
--- Entenhausener Werbeslogan
casita
bombs, then we will drop in a single night 150,000, 180,000, 230,000,
300,000, 400,000 ---a million kilograms---we shall wipe their cities
out!!"
Herr
Hitler.
Joe Strasser
Teppichfresser was a term that was comparable to "climbing the walls" in
American venacular. Shirer in my opinion was completely dishonest in his
description of the "carpet eater".
m.lee wrote in message <79nvjb$q...@dgs.dgsys.com>...
>Niklas Tvtterman (ni...@penti.sit.fi.nospam) wrote:
casita
effect of dragging the world down in flames with Germany before he would
capitulate.
And, I believe that was as far back as 1932.
Uncle Joe is reported as saying, " A single death is a tragedy, a million
is a statistic."
I prefer FDR's fireside chats.
WSC was also a great speaker.
Gord McFee
11:46:39 GMT, df <d...@christa.unh.edu> wrote:
> > > In Churchill's Memoirs, he calls Hitler a "Carpet-eater" which I
> > > thought hilarious. Where does this come from, his moustache? Thanks.
> >
> > It is referred to by Shirer amongst others, but most people close to
> > Hitler say it is a legend.
>
> In my recollection, it was "carpet-chewer," and the meaning was
> that Hitler went into such rages that he fell on the floor and
> yes, chewed the edge of the carpet. This was generally accepted
> as a matter of fact among young Americans (of whom I was one)
> during WWII. - Dan
Yes, it was accepted for many years, and repeated in Shirer's _The Rise
and Fall of the Third Reich_. The German word is "Teppichfresser",
which is hard to translate because "fressen" is the German word for
"eat", but applies to animals only ("essen" applies to humans). "Carpet
chewer" is one possible translation.
Nonetheless, subsequent research has revealed that the story is likely a
kind of Nazi urban legend. Hitler's closest associates, (Speer,
Guensche, etc.) say that while Hitler had quite the temper, he never
descended to that depth.
casita
Do *you* have now a few second thoughts on what young Germans
( I won't include you ) accepted as a matter of fact during WW II?
http://earthstation1.simplenet.com/warpostr/ricko/PosterJudSuss.jpg
pet...@ms.com
gmc...@ibm.net (Gord McFee) wrote:
> Nonetheless, subsequent research has revealed that the story is likely a
> kind of Nazi urban legend. Hitler's closest associates, (Speer,
> Guensche, etc.) say that while Hitler had quite the temper, he never
> descended to that depth.
Ok, but where did Paper-hanger come from?
Tia
Pjk
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Tim Watkins
> OK, but where did Paper-hanger come from?
Here's my take on that term:
Hitler was labeled a house painter by political opponents. I don't see
any evidence that Hitler worked at this trade, but he did paint and draw
posters and crude advertisements in his Vienna days. Many of these
papers and posters were hung on walls in small shops, taverns and inns.
Notable among these posters were advertisements for "Teddy's Perspiration
Powder", a poster depicting Santa Claus selling brightly colored candles,
and a picture of St. Stefan's Gothic spire rising out of a mountain of
soap cakes. These were all done in the four years prior to WW I.
Apparently hundreds of these pieces were sold by Hitler to traders to
decorate walls, to dealers who used them to fill empty picture frames on
display, and to furniture makers who sometimes tacked them to the backs
of cheap sofas and chairs.
Conjecture Number 2: As many of Hitler's political opponents had labeled
him a house painter, perhaps he was also labeled a hanger of wallpaper as
a job often undertaken with interior house painting. However, I also
find no evidence that he engaged in hanging wallpaper for his livelihood.
Tim Watkins
"We shall not capitulate - no, never, we may be destroyed, but if we are,
we shall drag a world with us - a world in flames."
- Adolf Hitler, 1932
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Rich Rostrom
> Ok, but where did Paper-hanger come from?
Hitler tried to be an artist in his youth, and produced a
few mediocre paintings. This was distorted in retelling to
his haveing been a house-painter. From house-painting to
wallpaper-hanging is not much of a stretch.
Thus the line given to Patton in the movie "I'm gonna
personally shoot that paper-hanging sonofabitch!"
--
Rich Rostrom | "Ah, White Lightning, that splits the skull and
| encourages the body and the sentiments!"
R-Rostrom@ |
mcs.net | -- R. A. Lafferty, _The Reefs of Earth_
David R. Smith
> Teppichfresser was a term that was comparable to "climbing the walls" in
> American venacular. Shirer in my opinion was completely dishonest in his
> description of the "carpet eater".
Toland also debunks Shirer's account. But as I recall, he indicated that
"chewing the carpet" meant long animated discussion or ranting, similar to the
way amateur radio operators describe long on-air discussions as "chewing the
rag".
David Smith
Gord McFee
pet...@ms.com wrote:
> In article <79to9q$q...@dgs.dgsys.com>,
> gmc...@ibm.net (Gord McFee) wrote:
> > Nonetheless, subsequent research has revealed that the story is likely a
> > kind of Nazi urban legend. Hitler's closest associates, (Speer,
> > Guensche, etc.) say that while Hitler had quite the temper, he never
> > descended to that depth.
> Ok, but where did Paper-hanger come from?
I think that one was dreamt up by Hitler's opponents in the 1920s as a
derogatory remark about his activities in Vienna between 1908 and 1914.
He did a lot of paintings at that time, postcards and that kind of
thing, and I think the paper hanger line was a logical outflow of that.
Jon-Paul Filkins
I think it was from a classic translation error that got out of hand.
Apparently, from what I've heard the act of nervously walking backwards
and forwards while waiting anticipating or even thinking is called by
the Germans by a word that can be translated as literal, 'chewing the
carpet'. I suppose its a bit like our phrase 'to cut some rug' But are
people who dance at parties known as rug rippers? This was leapt upon by
some music hall people and used as a joke in its original form that then
seemed to developed a life of its own.
I have absolutely no verification of this story but as an answer it works
for me. Positive proof or verification of error or not welcomed.
Ta! Jon-Paul
muzaffer musal
learned of his failure at some point before WW2 began he started to chew on
the carpet.
It is noteworthy that in German the term anti nazis used was Tepich Fresser,
people essen, animals fressen.
casita
>learned of his failure at some point before WW2 began he started to chew on
>the carpet.
Did anyone witness Hitler carpet munching?
inter...@aol.com
"muzaffer musal" <rmu...@omega.turk.net> wrote:
> It is from William L. Shirer's book that it is reputed that when Hitler
> learned of his failure at some point before WW2 began he started to chew on
> the carpet.
> people essen, animals fressen.
>
This is a common German expression for anyone who wears a mustache. Hitler's
was square, like a carpet, and as any mustache wearer can attest to,
sometimes gets in the way of oral function. The expression is even used
today, although I doubt many wear Hilter's style mustach. It may be a Berlin
expression. And the Germans would spell it Teppich Fresser, Teppich being a
carpet, Fresser being a voracious eater.
Donald Phillipson
>> It is from William L. Shirer's book that it is reputed that when Hitler
>> learned of his failure at some point before WW2 began he started to chew on
>> the carpet.
>> It is noteworthy that in German the term anti nazis used was Tepich Fresser,
>> people essen, animals fressen.
(inter...@aol.com) writes:
> This is a common German expression for anyone who wears a mustache. Hitler's
> was square, like a carpet, and as any mustache wearer can attest to,
> sometimes gets in the way of oral function. The expression is even used
> today, although I doubt many wear Hilter's style mustach. It may be a Berlin
> expression. And the Germans would spell it Teppich Fresser, Teppich being a
> carpet, Fresser being a voracious eater.
These comments appear defectively informed about German idiom.
1. The difference between essen/fressen (humans/animals) is OK.
2. The idiomatic German expression "Teppichfresser" means someone
who wears out the carpet. The mental image is of someone who paces
up and down in anxious thought until his feet wear holes in the
carpet. I.e. it is his feet that are "devouring" the carpet.
This was the sense in which Germans characterized Hitler's
behavior or situation 1938-39 as that of a Teppichfresser.
German speakers did not understand this to mean Hitler applied
Hitler's teeth to Hitler's carpet, either really or metaphorically.
They knew what the metaphor had already meant for 50 years, perhaps
much longer.
--
| Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs, |
| Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734 |
Freida Harris
>It is from William L. Shirer's book that it is
>reputed that when Hitler learned of his failure at
>some point before WW2 began he started to
>chew on the carpet.
It is interesting to note that Shirer told this tale as early as 1938.
This was quoted by Walter Langer in _The Mind of Adolf Hitler_which was
an "analysis" of Hitler done by Langer, a psychoanalyst, for the Office
of Strategic Services in 1941.
Langer's staff collected anecdotes and observations of Hitler's health
and behavior from all available sources. Langer did go on to say,
however, that no one close to Hitler had ever seen him behave in that
manner.
One wonders if it is Shirer who misunderstood the meaning of the
expression.
Freida Z. Harris