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Would answering "Jawohl" to an order or request be associated with Nazi Germany?

What about "Jawohl, mein Kommandant"? Can it be used (jokingly) without people finding it tasteless?

Eugene Seidel
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Tim
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8 Answers8

47

"Jawohl" is a normal German word, used as a strong affirmative. It doesn't have a specifically Nazi background, but one of its main uses has always been in the military, including the Wehrmacht.

Wiktionary says:

drückt unbedingte Zustimmung aus (expresses unconditional agreement)

Google NGram shows it has been in use during all times since 1800.

I'd say that its use in daily conversation, however, has declined. It has a slightly outdated touch to it in many contexts. Still, this is a valid example:

Wir werden sie finden, und zwar heute noch, jawohl!

The Wiktionary link (below) and the Google Book links in the NGram have more examples of the word's use throughout the ages.

In the military, as far as I know, it is the standard affirmative answer to a superior's command in the German military to this day — it made the transition from the Wehrmacht to today's Bundeswehr. Its closest English-language equivalent in that sense is "Aye!" or "Yessir!". It often gets colloquialized into "Jawoll".

I think the idea of a Nazi connotation has a simple explanation: Most plays, novels, films, and stories that deal with the German military are set in the Third Reich. You will hear "Jawoll!" in every one of them at least once.

Also, the phrase "Jawoll, mein Führer!" is still widely used in a sarcastic way, both in the English-speaking world and in Germany (and probably everywhere else around the globe).

"Jawohl" is always considered more formal than the familiar "Ja", which is for friends and acquaintances.

Related:

Christian Geiselmann
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Pekka
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    I didn't do military service though - would somebody who did mind confirming that "Jawohl" is still in use in the Bundeswehr? What about Austria and Switzerland? – Pekka Jun 17 '11 at 19:55
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    See also this article (in German) about a supermarket manager who was fired when he said "Jawohl, mein Führer" to his boss. Although he won in court and had to be rehired, the court stated that this action could have been grounds for termination in other circumstances. – Tim Pietzcker Nov 09 '11 at 15:06
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    You cannot ignore the peak around the early 1940ies in your NGram. – bitmask Mar 17 '12 at 11:19
  • @bitmask true, but that doesn't necessarily make "Jawohl" a decidedly Nazi term, does it? – Pekka Mar 17 '12 at 11:24
  • I wouldn't say it is. But the NGram actually indicates otherwise. – bitmask Mar 17 '12 at 11:29
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    @bitmask I don't think you can draw that conclusion. The peak coincides with a major war that dominated daily life - including literature, periodicals, movies et cetera. Plus, the Nazis were obviously driving a very military-friendly culture that would put even more emphasis to that trend. I would say that's where the peak comes from, and it doesn't make the word a Nazi word – Pekka Mar 17 '12 at 11:32
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    @Pekka, yes, it is still used in military service. To be clear: we had to use it! A normal "ja" would have ended in a lot of push-ups. – halirutan Aug 11 '12 at 04:01
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    It's interesting to compare the ngrams for uncapitalized "jawohl" (often a tag ending for emphasis, as in the example sentence above) and "Jawohl" (capitalized, expressing strong agreement). The former is fairly flat, with a mild peak around 1945, but the latter peaks very strongly around 1945 after growing steadily from the start of WWI, and has steadily declined since, giving a totally different picture of usage patterns. – Theodore Murdock Aug 30 '12 at 05:21
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    I guess jawohl is much more often used as an interjection or at least the first word in a sentence, at least the Google Ngram of capitalized Jawohl shows much greater frequency than lowercase jawohl. – hippietrail Nov 22 '12 at 12:36
  • @TheodoreMurdock: I don't know if the corpus has changed a lot since your comment, but today the curves seem to basically have the same shape and trends, just rescaled. – Raphael Jun 12 '14 at 05:57
  • What about the rank in Bundeswehr? I never served, but to me "Jawohl, mein Hauptmann!" feels older than "Jawohl, Herr/Frau Hauptmann!" – Raphael Jun 12 '14 at 06:01
  • @Raphael I don't think the corpus has changed enough to invalidate my observation. While they always seem to move in the same direction, "jawohl" and "Jawohl" have very different slopes both during and after WW II..."jawohl" as of 1988 was down only about 26% from 1943, while "Jawohl" was down about 65%, and "Jawohl" is still declining faster than "jawohl". – Theodore Murdock Jun 13 '14 at 01:49
  • @Raphael You'd normally use either just "Jawohl", or "Jawohl, Herr/Frau [Rank]". I only served for a short time, due to conscription, but still I think if the "mein" form was in use I think I'd have heard it at least once. – Cubic Aug 11 '14 at 14:33
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    @Pekka웃 the Swiss army uses "Hier, verstanden!", and in civilian life, this is occasionally used to ironically comment on orders given in an excessively authoritarian tone. – microtherion Apr 18 '16 at 10:09
  • @micro that sounds much preferable to "jawohl" – Pekka Apr 18 '16 at 10:25
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I wouldn't say it carries the "N-word" with it but it definitely has a military connotation to it. It is sometimes used ironically or tongue in cheek, like e.g.:

Kid: "Ich will ein Eis!"
Dad: "Jawohl! Kommt sofort." ;-)

vonjd
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    Great, that's the kind of use I was referring to. Could the dad say "Jawohl, mein Kommandant!"? – Tim Jun 17 '11 at 14:37
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    Well, I would say that is a little bit too much... but it depends on the situation (and the daddy ;-) – vonjd Jun 17 '11 at 14:47
  • I have a friend, Scott Swift by name, who has a rather famous daughter named Taylor. Apparently the "kid" (Kind) gets what she wants. – Tom Au Jun 17 '11 at 14:54
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    +1, was about to write something similar. I had "Jawohl, mein Dauphin" from Jeanne d'Arc in mind, which is also kind of military of course, but definitely not Nazi Germany :) I think that just Jawohl itself does not carry military connotation, it may just feel kind of archaic, and is not limited to joking use. However, for everything you could say, there will be someone to find it tasteless. By the way, NGrams shows usage peaks around 1920 and 1945. – OregonGhost Jun 17 '11 at 15:17
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    I think it has a connotation similar to "wilco" (U.S. military jargon for "I understand and will comply.") Not necessarily agreement ("yes"), but more an acknowledgement combined with recognition that the speaker's agreement is neither necessary nor relevant. – Toby Jun 17 '11 at 17:16
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    I would perhaps compare it to something like "Sir, yes sir!" – vonjd Jun 19 '11 at 06:30
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    Actually if the dad said that ( "Jawohl, mein Kommandant!") it would carry criticism if the kid is old enough to understand and otherwise it would probably be used jokingly only. But not really with the connotation feared ... – 0xC0000022L Apr 03 '12 at 19:44
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    There is no "N-word" in German. Saying it like it is is a German trait. No need for abbreviations or pointless political correctness. – ssc Dec 19 '12 at 23:47
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    Sorry for commenting on such an old answer, but I do not think that „Jawohl! Kommt sofort.“ has any military connotation, it seems more like something a waiter would have said not too long ago. (And maybe they still say that at restaurants that I do not visit.) – Carsten S Sep 08 '13 at 15:34
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"Jawohl" is the more formal version of "Ja" used very commonly in the Bundeswehr without any connotation. It is also used as shorter version for "zu Befehl" (as you order / at your command) when accepting an order, which is rarely used nowadays.

Some examples in military context can be found here. As Germany has had general conscription for quite a while, it can stil be found in civilian life.

mbx
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9

"Jawohl!" comes from a military context. It is the equivalent of "Yes, sir!".

The_Fritz
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I live in the south and I have never heard anyone say "Jawohl", except jokingly or to express uncommonly strong affirmation. It is more common in the north east, though (around Berlin).

I would never say "Jawohl, mein Kommandant" to people I don't know well, it feels like a quote from an American movie with fake Nazis.

7

As an American who lived in Germany (because I come from an Air Force background, but actually attended a small, local German school) I can affirm that saying "jawohl" does not carry any Nazi associations whatsoever. The word is simply a strong affirmative statement, close to when you hear what a friend is saying and say "yeah!" quickly in agreement. It is frequently used by uniformed personnel, but it is certainly not limited to them whatsoever.

Sam
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Jawohl is also used by the Polizei.

Chris Harris
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We used to speak German in the military back in the days. Now we speak our own Danish language, with some extra military/global words and expressions. To a superior we respond by saying: “Javel Hr. Sergent” which means “Jawohl mein Kommandant”.

Jawohl is still used, in many of the European armys.

Wrzlprmft
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Danish Wiking
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