chleuh

See also: Chleuh

French

Alternative forms

  • schleu, schleuh (Germanized variant forms, used when the word means "German")

Etymology

Borrowed from Moroccan Arabic شلوح (šlūḥ), plural of شلح (šilḥ). Moroccan /u/ may have an [ø]-like quality in certain positions.

Among the French military in northern Africa (Bataillon d’Afrique), it came to mean “one who cannot speak French or even Arabic”. It was later applied to German-speakers in eastern France and then, during the Second World War, to Germans at large.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃlø/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

chleuh m (plural chleuhs, feminine chleuhe)

  1. (uncountable) Tashelhit; one of the Berber languages
  2. (countable, derogatory, ethnic slur) a German; a kraut [1940s]
    Synonyms: boche, fritz

Adjective

chleuh (feminine chleuhe, masculine plural chleuhs, feminine plural chleuhes)

  1. Shilha, Tashelhit
  2. (derogatory) German

Further reading

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