# What was cartman saying in German in the latest southpark episode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660 "2004-04-07T01:32:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/1 "2004-04-07T01:32:42Z")
[http://www.spscriptorium.com/Season8/E804script.htm](http://www.spscriptorium.com/Season8/E804script.htm) when I say “Es ist Zeit für sauberen,” you all chant back “Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten.” What does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/2 "2004-04-07T01:47:33Z")
Babelfish tells me it translates to: “It is time for clean” and then “We must exterminate the Jews.” ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/3 "2004-04-07T03:14:16Z")
I’m guessing “It is time for clean” would be “It is time for the cleansing.” Ranchoth (“Time für to go to bed!”) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/4 "2004-04-07T12:39:50Z")
Those Babelfish tranbslations are accurate. :eek: Whoa. Cartman is set to replace Saddam as the world’s most evil person. Though I suppose it isn’t the worst thing he’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/5 "2004-04-07T12:41:23Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Those Babelfish tranbslations are accurate. > > :eek: > > Whoa. Cartman is set to replace Saddam as the world’s most evil person. Though I suppose it isn’t the worst thing he’s done. No, I think feeding Scott Tenorman his parents is. ---
**Author:** ![DemonSpawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@DemonSpawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonSpawn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/6 "2004-04-07T13:09:20Z")
German checking in. It does indeed mean “it is time for clean […]” and “We must exterminate the Jews”. The first part seems to be a mistake. Either it is missing a word or it is supposed to be “cleansing” instead of “clean”. I guess it is another bad translation. Somehow the German in American movies/TV shows is almost always subtly wrong, as if there are no German speakers one can ask. ---
**Author:** ![verbenabeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@verbenabeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/verbenabeast)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/7 "2004-04-07T13:17:28Z")
maybe this is just me being silly… but it is funnier that way… just me over analyzing… and finding humor where there should be none. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/8 "2004-04-07T13:53:58Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > No, I think feeding Scott Tenorman his parents is. Good gad. [http://www.geocities.com/d300g/southpark504.html](http://www.geocities.com/d300g/southpark504.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/9 "2004-04-07T15:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > when I say “Es ist Zeit für sauberen,” you all chant back “Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten.” [slight nitpick]The author’s German isn’t bad, but it should really be: when I say “Es ist Zeit zu säubern,” you all chant back “Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten.”[/slight nitpick] which translates to "when I say “It’s time to clean up,” you all chant back “We need to exterminate the Jews.” It wouldn’t surprise me if that is actually a quote from a real speech given by Hitler or Göbbels during a rally. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/10 "2004-04-07T15:37:15Z")
In the same episode he also says Töten sie die Juden. Wir können nicht stillstehen bis sie alle tot sind! Which translates into Kill they the Jews. We cannot stand still to it all are dead! Which seems like a butchered version of ‘kill the jews we cannot stand still until they are all dead’ ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/11 "2004-04-07T16:04:57Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Which seems like a butchered version of ‘kill the jews we cannot stand still until they are all dead’ Actually, in this case the German is flawless. Kind of strange considering it is much more complicated than the other quote. It looks like Babelfish mangled the translation a little. The correct translation is yours: “Kill the Jews. We cannot stand still until they are all dead” ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/12 "2004-04-07T16:44:34Z")
> [@DemonSpawn](#): > > I guess it is another bad translation. Somehow the German in American movies/TV shows is almost always subtly wrong, as if there are no German speakers one can ask. Well, to be fair, in this particular case I’m guessing that Matt and Trey really might not have been able to find a German they could have asked. The sentiments expressed in those lines are downright evil. I could certainly understand if a German speaker didn’t want to help make sure that the language of Goethe and Schiller was used properly to say _that_. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/13 "2004-04-08T06:05:36Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > In the same episode he also says > Töten sie die Juden. Surely, you mean: Toten Sie die Juden. (with a capital Sie) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/14 "2004-05-26T08:00:19Z")
What about the Chinpokomon episode: were they speaking real Japanese? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/15 "2004-05-26T10:38:01Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > What about the Chinpokomon episode: were they speaking real Japanese? Yes. My Japanese isn’t perfect, so I’ll let someone who is more fluent in the language comment on how correct it was, but it was real Japanese and, for the most part, at least, meant what they said or implied it meant, or something that would make sense in context. But you wouldn’t know it from the scripts online. I looked for a few to confirm my memory, but the transcription of the Japanese dialogue is awful. I was about to conclude I misremembered and that the Japanese was just jibberish until I came across the classroom scene where they keep answering in Japanese. One of the boys explains, when Mr Garrison yells at them: ‘Tchu hadchie is 18 in Japanese!’ _click_ ‘tchu hadchi’ is a bad transcription of ‘juu hachi’. There were also ‘Mina-san’ (everything) being rendered as ‘Menasa’ and ‘ichi ni san shi’ (one, two, three, four) as ‘hitch nee san chi’. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/16 "2004-05-26T11:21:37Z")
The two executives were speaking pretty accurate Japanese (the boss sounded native, the flunky didn’t), but the kids’ Japanese was kind of awkward. The chant at the end, ‘owatta Beikoku’, could mean, if you reeeally stretched it, “America is finished!” except that 1) ‘owatta’ usually means ‘finished’ only in the sense of ‘completed’, and 2) almost nobody calls it ‘Beikoku’ anymore (you use ‘bei’ if you’re using ‘America’ as part of a compound -\> Japan-American economy = Nichibei keizai. But as a stand-alone word, everyone just says ‘Amerika’). And before anyone complains about stereotypes in that episode, the main reason my wife thought it was hysterical was because earlier that day, two of the old farts at her company had actually commented to her “we heard your husband’s American. Wow. Big penis, huh?” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/17 "2004-05-26T11:30:11Z")
> [@DemonSpawn](#): > > I guess it is another bad translation. Somehow the German in American movies/TV shows is almost always subtly wrong, as if there are no German speakers one can ask. Ich bin ein Berliner _-JFK_ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/18 "2004-05-26T11:36:47Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Ich bin ein Berliner _-JFK_ > :smack: He didn’t say anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/19 "2004-05-26T15:00:12Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > And before anyone complains about stereotypes in that episode, the main reason my wife thought it was hysterical was because earlier that day, two of the old farts at her company had actually commented to her “we heard your husband’s American. Wow. Big penis, huh?” Boy, those Japanese really have our number, don’t they? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660/20 "2004-05-26T16:23:58Z")
JFK’s a doughnut? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-cartman-saying-in-german-in-the-latest-southpark-episode/238660.md?page=2)