# Were Nazis Grammar Nazis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540 "2017-04-29T23:56:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/1 "2017-04-29T23:56:34Z")
I doubt that there have been a large number of political parties who have come out against proper spelling and grammar but, compared to the average, were the Nazis more or less fanatical about spelling and grammar than other political movements? Same? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/2 "2017-04-30T00:26:43Z")
Adolf Hitler was an adamant prescriptivist when it came to the less/fewer distinction. He harped on so much about people mistakenly saying “less” when they meant “fewer”, that people eventually started calling him _The Fewerer_. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/3 "2017-04-30T00:51:14Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Adolf Hitler was an adamant prescriptivist when it came to the less/fewer distinction. He harped on so much about people mistakenly saying “less” when they meant “fewer”, that people eventually started calling him _The Fewerer_. You have been saving this for months and it was worth the wait. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/4 "2017-04-30T01:17:04Z")
[Uh oh.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20171292#30) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/5 "2017-04-30T01:21:35Z")
**Moderator Note** While in GQ, please hold off on the less serious answers until after the question has been address factually. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/6 "2017-04-30T01:44:12Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > While in GQ, please hold off on the less serious answers until after the question has been address factually. Sorry, itchy trigger finger. I couldn’t believe **Sage Rat** set me up so well for that. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/7 "2017-04-30T01:44:35Z")
Since many Nazis were [poorly educated](https://books.google.com/books?id=Gxny70aKgqcC&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=were+nazis+poorly+educated+in+general&source=bl&ots=yMe0PoyEWj&sig=E6LzessTNfpea3yMSDz31GTUkHU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNvNaqhsvTAhWj7YMKHeDMD6EQ6AEIKTAB#v=onepage&q=were%20nazis%20poorly%20educated%20in%20general&f=false), and “manly” virtues were emphasized over prissy book learning, I’d expect that standards of grammar suffered as well. > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > While in GQ, please hold off on the less serious answers until after the question has been _address_ factually. You funnin’ us? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/8 "2017-04-30T01:45:39Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Sorry, itchy trigger finger. I couldn’t believe **Sage Rat** set me up so well for that. And I, as usual, took it _personally_. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/9 "2017-04-30T02:14:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > You funnin’ us? Heh. No, that wasn’t intentional. I was in a hurry. In my defense, I am an engineer, and engineers are notorious for bad spelling and grammar. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/10 "2017-04-30T02:23:22Z")
Not necessarily related to grammar but Hitler was an awful writer. Because of that while lots of people brought Mein Kampf (it was a common gift at weddings), very few people actually read it. It has been suggested that if he WAS a better writer more people would have read it, realized how extreme his views really were (he basically lays out the final solution in Mein Kampf), and opposed him. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/11 "2017-04-30T02:53:23Z")
This educational site quotes from _A Social History of the Third Reich_ by Richard Grunberger, among others. > **[Education in Nazi Germany](https://spartacus-educational.com/GEReducation.htm)** > > A detailed history of the "Education in Nazi Germany" that includes images, quotations and the main events. GCSE Modern World History - Nazi Germany. A-level - Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–1945. Last updated: 9th May 2022 > [@](#): > > Bernhard Rust introduced a Nazi National Curriculum. Considerable emphasis was placed on physical training. Boxing was made compulsory in upper schools and PT became an examination subject for grammar-school entry as well as for the school-leaving certificate. Persistently unsatisfactory performance at PT constituted grounds for expulsion from school and for debarment from further studies. In 1936 timetable allocation of PT periods was increased from two to three. Two years later it was increased to five periods. All teachers below the age of fifty were pressed into compulsory PT courses. (41) > > Rust also establishment of élite schools called Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten (Napolas). Selection for entry included racial origins, physical fitness and membership of the Hitler Youth. These schools, run by the Schutzstaffel (SS), had the task of training the next generation of high-ranking people in the Nazi Party and the German Army. (42) The syllabus was that of ordinary grammar schools with political inculcation in place of religious instruction and a tremendous emphasis on such sports as boxing, war games, rowing, sailing, gliding, shooting and riding motor-cycles. Only two out of the thirty-nine Napolas constructed over the next few years catered for girls. (43) Other cites in that page pointed to how Hitler actually inherited a very conservative educational system, meaning that _what the Nazis did was to get rid of the grammar Nazis_ and concentrate more in physical activities (meaning more future soldiers) that were more important for the Reich. And even if the Germans noticed, they could not do much about the degradation of items like grammar. > [@](#): > > Teachers encouraged members of the Hitler Youth to inform on their parents. For example, they set essays entitled “What does your family talk about at home?” According to one source: “Parents… were alarmed by the gradual brutalization of manners,\*\* impoverishment of vocabulary\*\* and rejection of traditional values… Their children became strangers, contemptuous of monarchy or religion, and perpetually barking and shouting like pint-sized Prussian sergeant-majors.” (31) Bold added. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/12 "2017-04-30T02:55:20Z")
I recall reading tht the Nazi’s were real insistent on ‘Germanic’ heritage, and opposed what they saw as outsider influence on German publishing. For example, they encouraged the use of the[blackletter Fractur typeface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraktur), even though it’s harder to read than many fonts. They also stressed the use of the germanic Eszett character “ß” rather than the double-s equivalent. I don’t know if the Nazi’s actually did anything legally to encourage this, or if it was just made clear that anything else was ‘not true German fashion’. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/13 "2017-04-30T03:45:16Z")
[Hitler hates Grammar Nazis.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8fbrUjjivw) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/14 "2017-04-30T04:31:38Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > [Hitler hates Grammar Nazis.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8fbrUjjivw) Had to laugh at the first Youtube comments there: [QUOTE=MonguinAssassin] Grammar mistakes: 0:05 needs a comma at the end. 0:08 needs a comma at the end. 0:32 The period needs to go inside the quotations, not outside. 1:21 Both periods need to be replaced with commas. 1:29 comma needs to go inside the quotations. The question mark can be left outside. 1:36 He ended the sentence here, but you can throw in a dash or a ellipses to indicate being cut off. 2:07 You forgot the period at the end again. 2:11 replace period with comma. Also, you CAN end a Sentence in a preposition, [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Grammar Nazi Party1] +MonguinAssassin We need more people like you in the Party. :) [/QUOTE] **But** , MonguinAssassin ended the sentence with a comma. Achtung! Now they will take him to Castle Grammerstain! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/15 "2017-04-30T06:42:09Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > This educational site quotes from _A Social History of the Third Reich_ by Richard Grunberger, among others. > > [Education in Nazi Germany](http://spartacus-educational.com/GEReducation.htm) > > Other cites in that page pointed to how Hitler actually inherited a very conservative educational system, meaning that _what the Nazis did was to get rid of the grammar Nazis_ and concentrate more in physical activities (meaning more future soldiers) that were more important for the Reich. > > And even if the Germans noticed, they could not do much about the degradation of items like grammar. > > Bold added. This seems like a reasonable, factual answer. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/16 "2017-04-30T09:30:47Z")
In the Wolfenstein reboot there’s at least [one point](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imKkwWlhg8M) where if you wait and listen you can hear a grammar / language lesson. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2017, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/17 "2017-04-30T13:15:49Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Not necessarily related to grammar but Hitler was an awful writer. Because of that while lots of people brought Mein Kampf (it was a common gift at weddings), very few people actually read it. To where did they bring it (other than weddings)? 😃 (emphasis added) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/18 "2017-04-30T13:52:55Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > While in GQ, please hold off on the less serious answers until after the question has been address factually. In general I agree, but he made my day. ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/19 "2017-04-30T13:57:25Z")
The Nazis had a branding book. Think to a branding guidelines book some companies have if you wish to use their material. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were relatively strict about grammar. ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540/20 "2017-04-30T17:56:44Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > While in GQ, please hold off on the less serious answers until after the question has been address factually. _fewer_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-nazis-grammar-nazis/785540.md?page=2)