British soldier posing for a photograph with a shell labeled "A Present For Jerry", August 27, 1918.

British soldier posing for a photograph with a shell labeled "A Present For Jerry", August 27, 1918.



This photograph, colourised by @colorsofhistory, was taken today 104 years ago.

Soldiers in the First World War assigned different nicknames to soldiers of other nations, some more derogatory than others.
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Today I'll list some of those nicknames, however, I won't be explaining the names' origin.
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The British, who famously called themselves "Tommies", and the French called the Germans "Jerry", "the Hun", "the Boche", "Krauts", "Alleyman", and "Fritz" among other names, the latter also being used for Austro-Hungarians. Australians were called "Diggers" and the New Zealanders were called "Kiwis" among themselves.
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The Germans also had nicknames for the British, such as "Fussballindianer", meaning "Football Indians". The Germans also called Scottish soldiers "Devils in Skirts" as well as "Ladies from Hell".
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The French were usually referred to as "Frantz", "Frank" or "Froggies" by Germans, and famously called themselves "Poilus", translating to "the hairy ones". The Belgians were called "Jass" or "Piottes" and Russians were called "Sergei" or "Ivan" by Germans.
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The Ottomans were called "Johnny Turk", "Jacko", "Jacky" or "Abdul" by the British, and called themselves "Little Mehmets". Bulgarians were referred to as "Johnny Bulgar".
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The Portuguese were often called "Pork and Cheese", "Pork and Beans" or "Tony", and the Italians were called "Macaronis". The Germans called the Italians "Spaghettis", who in turn called the Germans and Austro-Hungarians "Crucco", originating from the Croatian word for bread "kruh", the joke being they were always hungry.
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U.S. soldiers were referred to as "Sammy", while calling themselves "Doughboys" and "Yankees" or "Yanks".
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Many other names were used in the First World War and trench slang is a whole chapter in itself, many words and terms still being used today, such as "over the top" and "having a chat".
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