It just occurred to me…

that the word “schweizer” might be a derogatory term in German. I’m sure I’ve spelled it incorrectly just now too.

What does it really mean? I’ve always thought it was German for “god damn it” or “shit!”. Basically something you’de say when you’ve screwed up.

I would use it occassionally when I’d done something stupid thinking it was funny to yell in German while pounding my fist on a desk in anger.

Anyway…

It was brought to my attention that the term might be racist or some other terribly offensive phrase.

At that moment I had a flash of each time I’d screamed it at myself at work, on trains, on the street and at conventions. My god…have I been offending the people around me all this time?

I froze for a second to digest the possibility then snapped out of it and typed furiously on the iPhone to investigate the word’s meaning.

Well…

Apparently I have yet to spell it properly because igoogle translator says it means Swiss. Or… maybe “Swiss” is a curse word in Germany??

Either way WTF does it mean and who have I offended?

Anyone know??

Thanks

Tags: oops