‘Nuts’ is old-timey for dammit ir wtf
‘Nuts’ is old-timey for dammit ir wtf
"On 22 December 1944, von Lüttwitz dispatched a party consisting of a major, a lieutenant, and two enlisted men under a flag of truce (in German: Parlamentärflagge, the flag of negotiations) to deliver an ultimatum. Entering the American lines southeast of Bastogne (occupied by Company F, 2nd Battalion, 327th Glider Infantry), the German party delivered the following to Gen. McAuliffe: To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Ourthe near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands. There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note. If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours term. All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity. The German Commander According to those present when McAuliffe received the German message, he read it, crumpled it into a ball, threw it in a wastepaper basket, and muttered, "Aw, nuts". The officers in McAuliffe's command post were trying to find suitable language for an official reply when Lieutenant Colonel Harry Kinnard suggested that McAuliffe's first response summed up the situation well, and the others agreed. The official reply was typed and delivered by Colonel Joseph Harper, commanding the 327th Glider Infantry, to the German delegation. It was as follows: To the German Commander. NUTS! The American Commander. The German major appeared confused and asked Harper what the message meant. Harper said, "In plain English? Go to hell."[5] The choice of "Nuts!" rather than something earthier was typical for McAuliffe. Captain Vincent Vicari, his personal aide at the time, recalled that "General Mac was the only general I ever knew who did not use profane language. 'Nuts' was part of his normal vocabulary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe#:~:text=On%2022%20December,%5B6%5D
All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity.
American Strategic Bombing Command: "..."
General Mac was the only general I ever knew who did not use profane language. 'Nuts' was part of his normal vocabulary.
You should watch Pattons real script for the army when entering the war,its rather...laced with more profanity than expected.
"The artillery fire did not materialize, although several infantry and tank assaults were directed at the positions of the 327th Glider Infantry. In addition, the German Luftwaffe attacked the town, bombing it nightly. The 101st held off the Germans until the 4th Armored Division arrived on 26 December to provide reinforcement." - same wiki link as above for the lazy.
Lmao so it was General McAuliffe’s version of FUCK!
It must have had a different meaning in the 40s because I would translate “aw, nuts” as “damn a bad thing has happened to me.”
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American: Sugondese! German: what? American: Sugondese nuts!
*Well, it’s a little hard to translate, but I would say this missive is roughly the equivalent of “Deez”… …*
Obviously this brings to mind BOB. Time for a rewatch
What about BOB?
It was also the inspiration for the uncancellation campaign for Jericho. Which did end up getting it one more season.
What about socks, Junior? You got extra socks?
Reminds me of A Bridge too Far when the soldier says they don't have the facilities to accept the much bigger German Army's surrender. This apparently actually happened too.
We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem - we can attack in any direction - Chesty Puller
Jericho!
The _original_ deez joke.
"A man that eloquent has to be saved!" ~ General Patton
"We weren't saved, we were relieved..." -The battered bastards of bastogne
in the movie *Patton* where George C. Scott is more Patton than Patton he said that (great movie)
Not Understanding Terms of Surrender
A beautiful backronym. :)
I wish I could remember where I read it but decades ago I read about an incident months after the battle when McAuiffe was in a rear area and being hosted by a local official. Obviously everyone who met him was asking him about the “Nuts!” Quote and he was kinda tired of it, so it was a nice surprise that his hosts didn’t even mention it and just served a lovely dinner and an evening of talk without bringing it up at all. Then the wife showed him to his room and as she was leaving said “Good night General McNuts.”
We did all that to save Europe and nowadays even Germans act like they're so superior to Americans. As if they weren't wholesale slaughtering each other over nothing within living memory, until we came in and spent a fortune putting a stop to it... 💪🏻🇺🇸
No one take this bait, plz.
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This is a prime example of laconic phrase. Named after the Spartans of Greece who were famous for their one word answers to demands from their enemies.
"if"
Fun fact: there was a TV show about 20 years ago called jericho, and was canceled after the first season. "Nuts" became our (the fans) rallying cry, and someone started nuts dot com so we could donate money and send over 20 tons of nuts to the TV Executives in protest. We got our second season after that.
TIL Jericho got a second season.
18 years ago. Also, you shut your damn mouth.
The nuts in the bulge
Every year in Bastogne when McAuliffe replied this reaction, there's a remembrance of the battle of the Bulge. You can visit the barracks where he said it together with a museum or 2. The whole city of Bastogne returns into a remembrance of the event. Aboslutely worth a visit!
For those interested. Swedish metal band Sabaton do a song about Bastogne and Nuts! is referenced in it called Screaming Eagles.
Screw it, I'm firing up HOI4 now (one of the add-ons features a bunch of Sabaton, including this song)
NUTS! THE GENERALS WORDS ECHOED CLEAR
I really enjoy some of the less famous lines from one of the American officers returning the German party back to the line, while trying to explain the feeling of the message: If you continue to attack, we will kill every goddamn German that tries to break into this city.
WHAT YOU DIDN'T LEARN. 'nuts' was the edited version. ask any soldier what he really said.
deez nuts
I learned about “Nuts!” watching World War II narrated by Tom Hanks. A fantastic and very in-depth documentary series that just wrapped up on The History Channel. 20 episodes each about an hour+ so it’ll take a bit to finish but I quite enjoyed it