‘Your mother was a turtle, your father was a snake, and you’re a…’ What?
German?
Snurtle?
Not sure, but it sounds like one of those lines that Grocho started and never finished. Most likely a well know dirty punchline that he couldn’t repeat on screen but could imply by not finishing it.
Hope you get an answer, but I’m not going to be much help on this one.
That’s what I thought as well.
My first thought was that it was something that combined the two words, but I can’t imagine ‘snurtle’ being censored. So I thought it might be something along the lines of… I don’t know. Something sexual that combines attributes of turtles and snakes that would not be summed up in a single word.
Is there a context to how you heard this? Why are you asking specifically about WWII ties?
It was used in God Is My Copilot (1945). But I’m looking for a factual answer, as opposed to a Café thing.
I wanted to make sure there was a reason to research it as related to WWII. Turtle has many war related slang uses.
…(obscenity)-faced son of a (obscenity)ing (military acronym) (obscenity)." Just a guess.
Serious guess? I’m thinking it would be a political referent of some sort – a snake being an untrustworthy sort, and a turtle someone who avoids conflict by withdrawing into his or her shell.
Up until 1945, snurtle was a well known and oft used word meaning “enemy combatant of dubious heritage attempting to enforce opposing ideological ideals and sexual perversions.” It’s in all the movies and literature of the era.
Hope that helps. Samclem should be along shortly to provide a cite for me.
IIRC, in the seldom-heard third verse of “Heil, Heil, right in der Fuhrer’s face,” Goering is referred to as a snurtle.