If you just shuddered, frowned, cried out "what?!", spewed your coffee all over your computer screen, or all of the above, you're probably a) not American, b) not familiar with Seinfeld, and c) very much like me until recently, except when I don't expect it, and still finding myself spewing my beverage
Coming from Europe, with grandparents who lived through the hunger winter of 1944, fought in the resistance, lost their homes, and had to hide from the Germans, as well as the constant reminder of world war two all around in the form of ugly post-war reconstruction and memorials, I would have never thought I would use the term "nazi" in anything but a historical sense. After all, anyone born in post-1945 Europe was raised with the notion that the nazis were / are pretty much the epitome of all evil. I mean, come on people, there is a reason the bad guys in Star Wars IV: A New Hope talk and look like Germans. So calling someone a Nazi in Europe is calling them a Nazi in the most literal sense possible. You're basically telling them they're shiny-black-boot-wearing, blindly-obedient, genocidal-maniacal, racist fascists. So let's just say that that word is not bandied about lightly.
But here in the US, the term "Nazi" never quite carried that negative a connotation. Even far before Seinfeld came along. And it does make sense. For although the Americans did fight the Nazis (and did so quite convincingly and successfully, I might add), they never suffered through an occupation, endless bombings, and the constant disappearance of near and dear ones. So it's not really a surprise when the term "Nazi" was slowly watered down to refer to anyone really strict, who is a stickler for rules, regulations, and order, and not very nice about it. The understanding of this term was perfectly captured in the famous Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode.
Ever since that episode aired in the mid-1990s, the term "Nazi" has been used freely, and at times almost endearingly, to describe anyone who is very gung-ho about just about anything. I remember when husband-dear first used the term with me very early on in our relationship, and called me a "chap stick Nazi". You see, husband-dear has very sensitive lips that are always getting sunburned and extremely chapped, and all he has to do to prevent that is wear chap stick. Only he constantly forgets that. And so I remind him. A lot. Or perhaps all the time. And hence husband-dear jokingly called me "chap stick Nazi".
And. I. Freaked. Out.
I mean, I really lost it. I cited my grandparents' suffering, the Nijmegen orphanage that got bombed, the people who never came home, and on the whole just made a bit of a fool of myself. And husband-dear understood. And has, much to his credit, never used the term again.
But that still leaves 299 million Americans who are not familiar with my feelings towards this term. And so Steve has jokingly called me a "FemiNazi" for hyphenating my last name, and last night, my friends dubbed me the "Cleaning Nazi".
I earned this title, because when Kay asked for help in cleaning her house after the movers were done, and indicated she was a little worried about passing final inspection, I stated in no uncertain terms that if I was there to help her clean, her house would be spotless by the time we were done. And while cleaning last night, whenever someone claimed to be done with something, I would threaten to come check it out to make sure it passed my inspection, before we could declare it "done". Hence the "cleaning Nazi". And although from a European perspective that could be construed as insulting, as a semi-American, I can say it's a true badge of honor.
And now excuse me while I call Kay to find out if her house did in fact pass that final inspection.
3 comments:
Sounds familiar. I have had the same outraged reaction you had to people using the term "nazi" frivolously. While I will still comment with my experiences, I no longer take it as an insult, as it is not meant that way. I have also learned that it really does make a difference on which side of history one grew up.
I heard it passed beyond flying colors. I owe our success to the magic eraser, lots of elbow grease, and Mahna Mahna (okay, and Mrs. Cleaning Nazi, too)!
I can understand the reaction to the word Nazi. Sometimes words trickle into language. I have to admit, that is a funny Seinfeld episode.
By the way, I never understood where this cleaning virus came from in my husband when we moved out of rental houses (not even owned by the military), until I found out how strict they are on base.
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