# I don't get this joke about Hitler **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823 "2010-08-01T21:31:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/21 "2010-08-02T18:25:23Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > > > Or, they’re saying Nappy was a drunk, Bizzy was fat, and Hitzy is a rat fink? > > Bismark got a little plump in his old age, but he wasn’t really remarkably fat even then, and I don’t know of any story or tradition of Napoleon being a drunk, he was famous for his crazy work-ethic and conquering Europe, which doesn’t really seem like something you could do why sloshed. Political humor being what it is, they could be exaggerating or even making it up. It’s merely the first thing I could come up with to link the silliness. Is/was there a cheese with a name similar to Adolph or Hitler? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/22 "2010-08-02T18:30:21Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > > [@Simplicio](#): > > > > Bismark got a little plump in his old age, but he wasn’t really remarkably fat even then, and I don’t know of any story or tradition of Napoleon being a drunk, he was famous for his crazy work-ethic and conquering Europe, which doesn’t really seem like something you could do why sloshed. > > Political humor being what it is, they could be exaggerating or even making it up. It’s merely the first thing I could come up with to link the silliness. Yea, jokes usually have to play off a well known myth though. Al Gore never said he invented the internet, but its still a staple of Al Gore jokes because its a famous story. A joke about Gore being a drunk wouldn’t make any sense then, since drunken Gore isn’t really even a popular myth. Course, the movie came out in the 40’s, so maybe drunken Napoleon and fat Bismark were popular tropes that have since faded, though I kinda doubt it, since an alcoholic Napoleon is kinda hard to even make plausible. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/23 "2010-08-02T18:35:33Z")
I wonder … Is this actually a real joke of the era or is it only from the movie? If it’s just about the movie, then it could be that there is no reason for the joke at all, except to be something silly and lame. Any ref to the joke that isn’t the movie? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/24 "2010-08-02T18:36:07Z")
I’ve always assumed that there was some sort of pun involved, lost to us now. Lubitsch was certainly capable of making a better joke. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/25 "2010-08-02T18:37:55Z")
Maybe the joke is about the parents? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/26 "2010-08-02T18:51:32Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Bismark got a little plump in his old age, but he wasn’t really remarkably fat even then, and I don’t know of any story or tradition of Napoleon being a drunk, he was famous for his crazy work-ethic and conquering Europe, which doesn’t really seem like something you could do why sloshed. > Political humor being what it is, they could be exaggerating or even making it up. It’s merely the first thing I could come up with to link the silliness. [Bismarck herring](http://www.bismarckhering.com/index-eng.php3) was named after Bismarck as a marketing tool, after it was discovered that he liked the stuff. I’m not sure how Napoleon brandy came to be called that, but as it’s meant to convey a sense of prestige, I’m sure it’s not an insulting reference to the emperor. In fact, if anything, the joke would be even lamer if the other two names were derogatory. The twist comes from the fact that the first two items were named after greatly admired leaders as a sort of tribute. If they were also insults, there would be no joke. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/27 "2010-08-02T21:40:08Z")
huh That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t MEAN anything. . ---
**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:** [August 2, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/28 "2010-08-02T21:45:24Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > As opposed to the sweet smell of herring? > > I agree, the joke doesn’t make any sense. Cheese seems as fancy as herring, and only a little less so then brandy. And while rats eat cheese, do animals associated with Napoleon drink brandy? I interpreted it as Napoleon liked brandy, Bismark liked herring, and Hitler (since he’s a rat) liked cheese. Not that either of the other two guys mentioned were animals. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/29 "2010-08-02T21:47:08Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Don’t overanalyze. What they’re basically saying is that if they named anything after Hitler, it would be something unimpressive. > > Cheese is no big deal (and is it ever “named after anybody”?), and in most cases, it stinks, more than anything else (think Limburger, Gorgonzola, etc.). This joke is insulting to cheese! ---
**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:** [August 2, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/30 "2010-08-02T22:32:51Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t MEAN anything. But it was clear in the movie that it was an obvious insult. And that it was supposed to be a common joke. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/31 "2010-08-03T00:12:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > > > That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t MEAN anything. > > But it was clear in the movie that it was an obvious insult. And that it was supposed to be a common joke. That was a joke. From an older, very hard to find the answer question. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/32 "2010-08-03T00:24:02Z")
[This review](http://www.johnreilly.info/whnm.htm) of a review of alternate-history treatments of Hitler is mildly appropriate: > [@](#): > > Finally, there is the fate of Hitler himself. In his earliest postwar allohistorical incarnations, he is up to his old tricks: inciting neofascist movements and devising superweapons in jungle exile; in one American television drama he is the colleague of the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. By the 1970s, he is portrayed as a decrepit old man, almost pitiable. Revenge against such a creature seems irrelevant in comparison to the magnitude of his crimes. In his most recent metamorphosis, though, he meets as strange a fate as any allohistorical scenario: he has become a clown. Increasingly over the last 30 years, der Führer has been appearing in comedy sketches and comic books, where he displays a short temper and a certain talent for explosive epigram. > > Hitler’s final state may be that of Mad Baggins, who, as Tolkien tells us, used to vanish with a flash and bang in fireside stories and became a favorite character of legend after all the true events were forgotten. > > It may be allohistory, but you can’t make this stuff up. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/33 "2010-08-03T02:46:13Z")
Perhaps the idea is that if Hitler brought peace, everybody would say, “Chee!” . . . ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/34 "2010-08-03T02:51:01Z")
How about this idea: France is not stereotypically known for its brandy nor is Germany known for its herring. Therefore, the food item Hitler will lend his name to will also be something Germany is not known for: cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Popular\_Culture\_Fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@Popular\_Culture\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popular_Culture_Fan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/35 "2013-05-27T22:22:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I was watching _To Be Or Not To Be_ yesterday and they had a joke about Hitler. > > If they named a brandy after Napoleon and a herring after Bismarck, what’s Hitler going to be? > A piece of cheese. > > I don’t get it. Is it supposed to be saying Hitler’s a rat? Or that he’s cheesy? > > From the context in the movie, it’s clear that the joke is insulting to Hitler. You have to know a little about American slang from this time period. Cheese was a slang term during this time period for human dung…So the punchline is calling Hitler a “Piece of excrement” A slang expression for when someone broke wind in a group and someone smells it was, “Who cut the cheese!” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/36 "2013-05-27T22:45:25Z")
Interesting. I’d never heard that “cheese” meant poop, but the expression “who cut the cheese?” still exists to this day. It’s kind of cool how some things survive and some don’t. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/37 "2013-05-27T22:53:25Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > How about this idea: France is not stereotypically known for its brandy Huh? Cognac? Armagnac? (And obviously Napoleon, which is a brand of cognac) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/38 "2013-05-27T22:58:30Z")
More generally, “piece of cheese” was a slang insult to imply that somebody was useless, insignificant, or contemptible, as in [this example](http://books.google.com/books?id=fvt8DUd12kIC&pg=PA26) from the early 1920s: > [@](#): > > “I called in that jackass there”—he pointed to the guilty clerk—“[…] and that piece of cheese says: […]” The movie line isn’t suggesting that any type of cheese might actually be named after Hitler; it’s just calling Hitler a “piece of cheese”. ---
**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 27, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/39 "2013-05-27T23:13:28Z")
> [@Popular\_Culture\_Fan](#): > > You have to know a little about American slang from this time period. > > Cheese was a slang term during this time period for human dung…So the punchline is calling Hitler a “Piece of excrement” > > A slang expression for when someone broke wind in a group and someone smells it was, “Who cut the cheese!” Okay, I had never heard this particular slang term before but it fits the joke and makes it work. So thanks for solving the mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823/40 "2013-05-27T23:15:19Z")
In the Mel Brooks remake, they changed it to “a pickle… because he’s such a sourpuss!” Apparently Mel either didn’t get the cheese joke either or else got it but didn’t think it was funny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-joke-about-hitler/548823.md?page=3)