# I am Swiss. I have always been Swiss, and will always be Swiss. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070 "2012-05-06T15:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/1 "2012-05-06T15:38:22Z")
Where’s that from? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/2 "2012-05-06T16:20:48Z")
The Big Cheese? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/3 "2012-05-06T16:56:15Z")
_Goudafellas_ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/4 "2012-05-06T16:59:36Z")
_The Swiss Connection_? ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/5 "2012-05-06T17:01:57Z")
Well, according to the top result on Google, it’s from this very thread. And you said it. Hope that helps! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/6 "2012-05-06T17:04:40Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Where’s that from? I’ve never heard this quote before, and a quick Google on “I have always been Swiss” only produces 10 hits. One is this thread. Several use the phrase in a different context. The only relevant matches seem to be a few posts on different recipe forums, quite possibly all by the same person. I think it’s safe to say this is not a famous quote, and unless you heard it elsewhere then it seems likely to me that the recipe forum poster either invented or misremembered it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/7 "2012-05-06T17:08:39Z")
It’s from Switzerland. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/8 "2012-05-06T17:10:02Z")
I am swish. I have always been swish, and will always be swish. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/9 "2012-05-06T17:43:35Z")
As a Swiss I’ve never heard it. But I am Swiss, I have always been Swiss and will always be Swiss. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/10 "2012-05-06T17:45:56Z")
Well, perhaps they are thinking of President Obama? According to [this news blurb](http://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/bern/obama-can-sagen-ich-bin-ein-schweizer-id54264.html) (the article is in Swiss German, not in English) genealogists traced Obama’s ancestry back 300 years to his great, great, great, great grandparents and found them to be Swiss who then moved to the USA. Thus, Obama could make a case that he was Swiss and could buy some lederhosen and a chalet and retire near the Matterhorn someday, should he so choose. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/11 "2012-05-06T17:56:43Z")
Don’t recall that I’ve ever heard that, but in an episode of _The Kallikaks_, a telephone company rep named Hindeman (intended to be evocative of both a disgraced Nixon staffer and a fugitive ex-Nazi) protests that he is not German, but Swiss. Might be the source of your quote, as it echoes popular perception of Nixon’s “I am not a crook” sound bite. (In an early exchange, the Kallikaks, who have received an excessive refund from the phone company, are accused by Hindeman. Jasper Kallikak protests that he is not a crook, and Hindeman smirks knowingly and says “That’s what we all say.” Later, when Oscar Heinz, Jasper’s German employee shows up, he greets Hindeman delightedly as “Countryman!” Hindeman replies testily, “I told you, I’m Swiss!” Oscar winks broadly, nods, and says “Ja, that’s what we all say!” I think Hindeman might have told them he was Swiss with the words in the OP, or something like them.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/12 "2012-05-06T18:25:32Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I think it’s safe to say this is not a famous quote, and unless you heard it elsewhere then it seems likely to me that the recipe forum poster either invented or misremembered it. I can’t remember when or where I heard it. Possibly in the late-'70s from a classmate who saw it somewhere, or possibly on a sketch-comedy show, other television show, or movie in the '80s. I’m pretty sure I saw it. The context was that someone was insinuated to be a former-Nazi. He says the line in a German accent. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/13 "2012-05-06T22:14:03Z")
I believe it’s the official motto of ODESSA. More seriously, it’s from _The Secret War of Harry Frigg_ (1968). ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/14 "2012-05-06T22:30:21Z")
It’s a now very old joke from the immediate post-Second World War era, allegedly from B movies. F’rinstance, a loud shout by a man on the street: “Hey, [stereotypical German first name]!” directed to someone walking down the street and whose back is toward the person shouting. Person with stereotypical German first name stops dead in his tracks, quickly raises his hands in the air and shouts in heavily accented German, “I am Swiss!” It’s in the same league as the stereotypical British PoW asking a suspected enemy infiltrator spy keeping an eye on the escape tunnel being dug, “What’s the time?” in German. The suspected infiltrator always answers in German. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/15 "2012-05-07T02:21:18Z")
Man, everyone wants to be Swiss. Obama, _Gymnopithys_, the Kallikaks, my Dad’s side of the family… even Movie Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/16 "2012-05-07T02:23:45Z")
In the book/movie the Exorcist, the character Karl has a similar line. It’s not that lengthy – he just says, “I am Swiss” when Burke Dennings refers to him as German/a Nazi. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/17 "2012-05-07T03:27:47Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > …but in an episode of _The Kallikaks_… _Mein Gott im Himmel_, you not only watched that show (solid contender for The Worst Sitcom of All Time) but also remember specifics? What a horrible burden you’ve borne for four decades! ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/18 "2012-05-07T06:48:26Z")
It kind of sounds like something from _Fawlty Towers_ or Tom Lehrer’s _I Was Not A Nazi Polka_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/19 "2012-05-07T13:12:55Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > In the book/movie the Exorcist, the character Karl has a similar line. It’s not that lengthy – he just says, “I am Swiss” when Burke Dennings refers to him as German/a Nazi. I remember that scene. It’s possible that a classmate, years later, used the quote as a basis for a longer, more amusing line. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070/20 "2012-05-07T14:14:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I can’t remember when or where I heard it. Possibly in the late-'70s from a classmate who saw it somewhere, or possibly on a sketch-comedy show, other television show, or movie in the '80s. I’m pretty sure I saw it. The context was that someone was insinuated to be a former-Nazi. He says the line in a German accent. When you put it that way, it sounds kind of familiar. Like something out of Monty Python or The Producers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-swiss-i-have-always-been-swiss-and-will-always-be-swiss/621070.md?page=2)