Nick
May 30th, 2004, 10:42 PM
Record number of Germans booked for offensive gestures
ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN
Mon 31 May 2004
GERMANS are rude and getting ruder, according to new statistics which showed a record 164,848 of them were booked last year for insulting each other.
In hard times, with welfare cuts impacting across society and companies going bust at record rates, an ordered-but-rude society is getting nastier. In 1990 there were fewer than 80,000 prosecutions for insulting people - this year some estimate it may top out at more than 200,000.
"Welcome in the republic of insults," said Der Spiegel, the premier news magazine in its latest issue hitting newspaper stands today.
Most of last year’s offences were gestures that are carefully defined in a catalogue kept by public prosecutors.
They include tapping the forehead with an index finger, which relays the message "you’re crazy", forming an "O" with the index finger and thumb to signify a part of the anatomy and United States -inspired use of the middle finger.
Verbal insults listed by prosecutors include "stupid cow," "pig-dog" and "riff-raff".
Frankfurt prosecutor Dieter Kellermann said the insults alone don’t tell the whole story.
"It starts off with a bit of sign language and suddenly you’re involved in grievous bodily harm," he said.
Woe betide the German who makes the "you’re bonkers" gesture to a police officer - it can result in fines equal to half the monthly wage of the insulter.
Last year, former German national soccer player Stefan Effenberg was fined £75,000 for calling a policeman an "a***hole".
He said the policeman misheard "schoenen Abend noch" (nice evening) for "Arschloch".
Because of the bureaucratic way Germany rigidly defines its insults, a revolution is now under way. Tapping the forehead with two fingers is not in the prosecutorial handbook - and therefore not illegal.
This is now known as "the double bird" and prosecutors are seeking clarification from Berlin as to whether it should be listed as an insult carrying a fine on conviction.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=616942004
ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN
Mon 31 May 2004
GERMANS are rude and getting ruder, according to new statistics which showed a record 164,848 of them were booked last year for insulting each other.
In hard times, with welfare cuts impacting across society and companies going bust at record rates, an ordered-but-rude society is getting nastier. In 1990 there were fewer than 80,000 prosecutions for insulting people - this year some estimate it may top out at more than 200,000.
"Welcome in the republic of insults," said Der Spiegel, the premier news magazine in its latest issue hitting newspaper stands today.
Most of last year’s offences were gestures that are carefully defined in a catalogue kept by public prosecutors.
They include tapping the forehead with an index finger, which relays the message "you’re crazy", forming an "O" with the index finger and thumb to signify a part of the anatomy and United States -inspired use of the middle finger.
Verbal insults listed by prosecutors include "stupid cow," "pig-dog" and "riff-raff".
Frankfurt prosecutor Dieter Kellermann said the insults alone don’t tell the whole story.
"It starts off with a bit of sign language and suddenly you’re involved in grievous bodily harm," he said.
Woe betide the German who makes the "you’re bonkers" gesture to a police officer - it can result in fines equal to half the monthly wage of the insulter.
Last year, former German national soccer player Stefan Effenberg was fined £75,000 for calling a policeman an "a***hole".
He said the policeman misheard "schoenen Abend noch" (nice evening) for "Arschloch".
Because of the bureaucratic way Germany rigidly defines its insults, a revolution is now under way. Tapping the forehead with two fingers is not in the prosecutorial handbook - and therefore not illegal.
This is now known as "the double bird" and prosecutors are seeking clarification from Berlin as to whether it should be listed as an insult carrying a fine on conviction.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=616942004