science

Kartoffel

Kartoffel is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kartoffel rather than just read about it. In short: Kartoffel (German for potato, German: [kaʁˈtɔfl̩] ) is a derogatory slang term used by other cultures to describe Germans. It is also used in a humorous way and as a self-denomination.

Key takeaways

Kartoffel belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kartoffel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kartoffel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kartoffel (German for potato, German: [kaʁˈtɔfl̩] ) is a derogatory slang term used by other cultures to describe Germans. It is also used in a humorous way and as a self-denomination. In English, kartoffel can also be used literally, or for literary effect, to mean potato.

History "Kartoffel" refers to a person of German descent, particularly an ethnic German from the perspective of allochthone populations in Germany. Use of the word Kartoffelfresser ("potato glutton") was popularised in the 1960s, when it was commonly used as a derogatory term to describe people of German descent. The first known use of the word in a similar sense was in 1873, when the Grimms' Deutsches Wörterbuch used it in a teasing manner to describe inhabitants of the Ore Mountains as Kartoffelwänste ("potato tummies"), because potatoes were the only substance that they ate, whether out of poverty, habit, or both.

Controversies The term "Kartoffel" has been used in debates about Germanophobia. In 2010, Kristina Schröder, the Minister for Family Affairs, stated in a television interview for the ARD that children were being described as "German potatoes" or "German sluts". She described such insults as a form of racism. Ehrhart Körting, the Berlin Senator of the Interior and Cem Özdemir, co-chair of the Alliance 90/The Greens party called for consistent action against such behavior, whilst the Alliance 90/The Greens politician Sven-Christian Kindler described Schröder's statements as "pseudo-scientific, dangerous nonsense". German journalist Julian Reichelt was nominated for the Goldene Kartoffel ("golden potato") award in 2018 by the Neue deutsche Medienmacher ("New German Media Makers") association, for Bild-Zeitung on writing reports on the poor and immigration. Reichelt rejected the award, claiming that the term "Kartoffel" had evolved into a "racial insult on German school yards and is by no means well intentioned." "Kartoffel" later appeared in public debate concerning Germany's national football team after they were knocked out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. According to an article published in the German magazine Der Spiegel, the German football team was said to be segregated into self-appointed groups. Kanake (derogatory slang for "foreigner") including international players Jérôme Boateng and Mesut Özil and Kartoffel, with "typical" Germans like Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels. The difference between these groups is mainly associated with the players' lives: the more lavishly living Kanake group made fun of the lives of the Kartoffeln. In response to news coverage of this, national players İlkay Gündoğan and Lukas Podolski, active players in the German Football Association (DFB) until 2017, said that it was harmless teasing. German satirist and late-night show host Jan Böhmermann described the authors of German Wikipedia as mainly white Germans with no immigration background in the episode Die Telelupe: Wikipedia on Neo Magazin Royale on April 18, 2019. He created the article Kartoffel (Slang) on German Wikipedia to see whether the material, which would offend this group of people, would remain on Wikipedia.

Literal and literary usage In English, kartoffel can be used to mean potato, literally, or for literary effect, as in the stylized argot, Nadsat, of the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, for example, 'Then, my brothers, we had these off-white cravats which looked like whipped-up kartoffel or spud with a sort of a design made on it with a fork.' and, 'It was really a very nice appetizing bit of pishcha they'd laid out on the tray - two or three lomticks of like hot roastbeef with mashed kartoffel and vedge, then there was also ice-cream and a nice hot chasha of chai.'

See also Kraut, a derogatory term for Germans in English during the World Wars List of terms used for Germans List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity List of regional nicknames

References

References Burgess, Anthony (1996). A Clockwork Orange. London: Penguin, ISBN 9780140188820. Originally published, London: Heinemann, 1962

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kartoffel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kartoffel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kartoffel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kartoffel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kartoffel

In research: Kartoffel appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kartoffel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kartoffel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anti-German sentiment, Exonyms, Pejorative terms for European people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kartoffel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kartoffel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kartoffel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kartoffel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kartoffel in simple terms?

Kartoffel (German for potato, German: [kaʁˈtɔfl̩] ) is a derogatory slang term used by other cultures to describe Germans. It is also used in a humorous way and as a self-denomination.

Why does Kartoffel matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kartoffel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kartoffel.