# I say "Germany." What's the first thing you think of? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507 "2012-01-24T16:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/121 "2012-02-01T07:02:48Z")
How is it possible that ‘beer’ is not a choice, in this poll? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/122 "2012-02-01T07:14:23Z")
Another here for beer. Also leiderhosen and acordions. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/123 "2012-02-01T07:38:27Z")
Living in Cologne Germany at age seven — 1970. Walking a few blocks away by myself to a market where I bought a bag full of Haribo gummi bears. Strolling back home chewing away with a smile on my face and suddenly realizing that I had taken a wrong turn and was completely lost. I wasn’t afraid though. 😃 > **[Gummy bear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gummi_bear)** > > Gummy bears (German: Gummibär) are small, fruit gum candies, similar to a jelly baby in some English-speaking countries. The candy is roughly 2 cm (0.8 in) long and shaped in the form of a bear. The gummy bear is one of many gummies, popular gelatin-based candies sold in a variety of shapes and colors. > The gummy bear originated in Germany, where it is popular under the name Gummibär (help·info) (gum or gummy bear), or in the diminutive form Gummibärchen (help·info) (\[little\] gum or gummy bear... ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/124 "2012-02-01T20:40:10Z")
Put me in the beer camp. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/125 "2012-02-01T22:33:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Also leiderhosen 😃 I know enough German to find this word amusing. (I assume you meant “Lederhosen.” “Leiderhosen” would mean something like “unfortunate pants.” Which word I’m now going to be looking for an opportunity to use.) ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/126 "2012-02-02T05:32:56Z")
I am an engineer and appreciate the automobiles, machinery, and the quality of the German products. This was reinforced by a story narrated to me by the CEO of a company I worked for. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/127 "2012-02-02T05:37:03Z")
When people say Germany I generally think of the Second Reich rather than the Hitler abberation. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/128 "2012-02-02T16:06:51Z")
I think of good beer, good food, good music (Polka!), nice, temperate climate, Walds, picturesque towns, villages, and hamlets. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/129 "2012-02-02T16:40:32Z")
BMW. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/130 "2012-02-02T19:21:59Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Just like the last time. LOL. Reminds me of Tom Lehrer’s “MLF Lullaby”: _Once all the Germans were warlike and mean, But that couldn’t happen again. We taught them a lesson in nineteen eighteen, And they’ve hardly bothered us since then…_ > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > …(I assume you meant “Lederhosen.” “Leiderhosen” would mean something like “unfortunate pants.” Which word I’m now going to be looking for an opportunity to use.) I once made the mistake of referring to “Liederhosen” - “song pants”! ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/131 "2012-02-02T19:26:25Z")
First thing I thought of was chocolate cake. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/132 "2012-02-02T19:36:52Z")
Speaking of (in)famous Germans: [Bismarck’s Voice Among Restored Edison Recordings - The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/science/bismarcks-voice-among-restored-edison-recordings.html?_r=1&emc=eta1) ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/133 "2012-02-02T21:36:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Kaiser Wilhelm II > > Of course, I’m in the middle of the World War One unit right now. 😃 I thought of Auschwitz for similar reasons - my classes just finished reading _Night_. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/134 "2012-02-03T01:49:42Z")
Volkswagen. The real ones from years ago, not the pretend ones they’ve brought out in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![taskmgr.exe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@taskmgr.exe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taskmgr.exe)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/135 "2012-12-09T00:49:32Z")
My German textbooks. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/136 "2012-12-09T00:51:17Z")
Cuckoo clocks. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/137 "2012-12-09T05:10:41Z")
Hitl. Hitler. Hitlest. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/138 "2012-12-09T05:19:35Z")
Food, because one of my middle school best friends/high school friends/now Facebook-based acquaintances constantly bitches about much better the food was in Germany. (He did a semester, or was it a year, of exchange during high school.) Second I think of the outline of the borders, and third, beer. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/139 "2012-12-09T05:52:14Z")
I think about the lady I met through online dating. > [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I think of shiny black leather. Zooming out the leather turns into the foot of a black leather riding boot. Out further it is a long, slender, mid thigh-length boot attached to what I’m almost certain is a woman in a matching black-leather teddy with a 10’ whip hanging limply at her(?) side. She’s got a very pale face and crimson lipstick highlighting a derisive sneer. She is wearing a matching service cap. She says, “_Bad_ American!” There is a sharp report from the whip and I cry furiously into a ball gag, my hands cuffed securely behind me. I pay her in Trident Layers gum. this also made me think of her.😃 ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507/140 "2012-12-09T05:56:20Z")
I think of [German food](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=german+food&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=39650382&biw=1138&bih=537&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&authuser=0&ei=lSfEUKHrKYKE8AT7u4CICA) and [beer](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=german+food&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=39650382&biw=1138&bih=537&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&authuser=0&ei=lSfEUKHrKYKE8AT7u4CICA#um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&authuser=0&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=german+beer+&oq=german+beer+&gs_l=img.3..0l10.53591.54345.0.55050.5.5.0.0.0.0.803.1786.3-1j0j1j1.3.0.ckjrth..0.0...1.1.5s89nainQ1s&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=9a661f99e4098eb1&bpcl=39650382&biw=1138&bih=537). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-germany-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/610507.md?page=8)