If a German called you Tommy would you call him Jerry?

[Cowtipper]

Its bad form to call a Jap a Nip (Nipponese) or a German a Kraut. Is it ok to call a German Jerry?

[mike11111]

Tommy is not in the same category. It is a term invented by the English, refers to soldiers and was/is not considered derogatory.

[wildwood]

NIp may be slightly disrespectful as it is an abbreviation, bur many japanese proudly call their companies Nippon company etc.

[Noraq]

I may be wrong ( i frequently am) but I'm pretty sure the Japanese word for Japan is Nippon.

[RATTER15]

You are correct Noraq.

[Prudie]

I'm sure kraut is and always was a derogatory name - it's from sauer kraut (pickled cabbage) isn't it?

[MarkRae]

Indeed, Prudie, but referring to a national of a country by that country's "national" dish is not that unusual. We call the French "frog", they call us "rosbif", etc...

[Philtaz]

If a German called me Tommy, I'd say:

"Oy, it's Tommy bach to you"!

[Booldawg]

roast beef

[Prudie]

it's rosbif pixi (roast beef) and I still think kraut and frog are considered 'bad form' these days.

[Philtaz]

When I served in West Germany, the citizens were far more incensed if they heard the word 'boxhead' as opposed to 'kraut'.

[redman41]

I prefer Heinz ( 57 ) myself rather than Jerry or Kraut !

[Snafu03]

There seems to be alot more banter between brits and germans. Culturaly we have more in common with them than we do with the French.

Name calling between nationalities seems to be offensive on a sliding scale of how similar you are in culture.

[MarkRae]

http://en.wikipedia.o.../List_of_ethnic_slurs

Some quite funny, some a bit toe-curling, others seriously offensive...

[Philtaz]

An interesting list, yet none of the three main ones for my Scots cousins that I often heard used in the Army..........

[MarkRae]

No indeed - it's heavily slanted towards North American usage...