Series G, Episode 8 - Germany
Further details

Theme
- Don't Mention the War Forfeit: The panel are deducted points each time they mention the war.
Topics
- XL: The panel are given a selection of German "Loan Words", which are words in German that we use in English.
- The Germans are not that upset about losing the 1966 World Cup. While the English consider the Germans to be their great football rivals, the Germans consider the Dutch to be their great football rivals. Their great match as they see it was the 1974 Final where they beat the Netherlands 2-1. (Forfeit: Very)
- The Germans confiscated Dutchmen's trousers because of sponsorship. During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, thousands of Dutch fans attended matches wearing orange lederhosen, with big pockets which could carry beer and a lion's tail. They were called "leeuwenhosen" which in Dutch means "lion pants". However, they displayed the name of a beer called Bavaria, which was not the official beer of the World Cup and therefore broke sponsorship rules. Therefore, in Holland's first game against the Côte d'Ivoire, they had to watch the match in their underpants.
- XL: The panel are shown a picture of a plastic device with a smily face and are asked what it is. It is a spuk, a device that orders men not to lift up toilet seats and make them sit down on the lavatory. The voice on it is so loud that everyone in a public lavatory can hear it. "Spuk" is German for "Spook", and it is also an acronym for "Sitzpinkeln Unter Kontrolle". "Sitzpinkeln" means "to stand up when urinating", while "Stehpinkeln" means "to sit down when urinating".
- XL: German students often clean people's houses while naked for a living. This is known as "Nacktputzservice". Nudism is a very German thing, as the movement as we know it came from there, in ways such as the Frei Körper Kultur (FKK) or "Free body culture". The movement was popular in the 1930s but the Nazis banned it, with Goring being the most against the movement. Countries bording Germany such as Poland and Switzerland now get angry with naked German ramblers coming across the border. There are nude beachers in Germany. The Englischer Garten (English Garden) in Munich and the Tiergarten, Berlin's largest park, have nudist aeras.
- The most repeated television programme of all time is Dinner for One, a comedy sketch starring British comedian Freddie Frinton. It is shown on every German TV channel on New Year's Eve, every year since 1972. The sketch involves Frinton serving a Christmas dinner for his mistress played by May Warden, who is rather mad and old. Frinton pours out drinks for imaginary guests and gets drunk himself. In Germany, the sketch is almost unavoidable. People even hold parties for it. The sketch itself originated in 1920 and was performed in music halls. A German TV presenter saw it in 1963 and asked for it to be performed in Germany. So they did the sketch live once, and then in 1972 they returned to do a recorded version. It has since been repeated ever since.
- XL: Uncle Wiggly Wings dropped chocolate into Berlin for children. In 1948, the Soviet Union cut off Berlin from the rest of the world. This resulted in the Berlin airlift, in which British and Americans dropped in food for the people of Berlin. An American pilot, Gail Halvorsen, had two sticks of gum and said to the children and said that if they shared it with the other children, he would return tomorrow with more candy. So Halvorsen, nicknamed Uncle Wiggly Wings, wiggled his wings over Berlin and dropped in chocolate for the children every day. It was known as Operation Little Vittles. American children gave their own candy to help. The candy was floated down using silk parachutes. A total of 2,223,000 tonnes of supplies were dropped during the Berlin airlift.
- If you get involved in an argument on the internet, inevitably it will involve a comparison with Hitler or the Nazis. This is known as "Godwin's Law" or "Godwin's Rule of Nazi Comparison", which states "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." Once the Nazis or Hitler is mentioned, the discussion is considered closed and the person who mentioned the Nazis or Hitler is generally deemed to have lost the argument. Examples include people saying that fox hunting is a good thing because Hitler banned it. The rule itself is generally overlooked when talking about Nazism itself. The rule is named after Mike Godwin, who is general councillor of the Wikimedia Council.
- You could use a Monopoly set to escape from a POW camp by hiding real money with the Monopoly money and silk maps in the board (paper is too bulky). A man called Clutty Hutton turned Monopoly sets into escape kits for MI9. He set up pretend charities which gave the games to British soldiers in the camps. Hutton's earlier work involved hiding compasses in tunic buttons. The Germans got wise to this and unscrewed the buttons, so Hutton reversed the thread so when it was screwed the button tightened. The Germans got wise to this as well. Hutton then used razor blades which were magnetised at one end so that the "G" of Gillette faced north. Other things sent to British POWs included blankets that when wettened gave the outline of a great coat which they could cut out and use as a template. They also sent them dice containing different coloured dyes to colour the coats. There were also playing cards that when thrown in water peeled open and had money in them. (Forfeit: Get Out of Jail Free)
General Ignorance
- Brideshead Revisited was written by Evelyn Waugh. (Forfeit: Evelyn War)
- The panel are show a picture of a dog and are asked what breed it is. The dog in question is a German Shepherd, which has been the official name for what was previously called the Alsatian since 1977. After World War One, English people stopped calling German Shepherds by this name because they did not like anything with German, so they called them Alsatian wolfhounds in 1918. The wolfhound was then dropped.
- The Munich Oktoberfest takes place mostly in September. It generally begins on the third Sunday of September (except when it falls on the 15th, in which case it starts on fourth Sunday - the 22nd) and ends on the first Sunday of October. As 3rd October is a holiday in Germany, Oktoberfest can last an extra 17th day if 3rd October is a Monday, or an 18th if it is a Tuesday. It is one of the largest regular festivals or fairs in the world, with six million people a year visiting it. 6,940,600 litres of beer are drunk during it.
- The panel are played a section of the song "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music and are asked what is wrong with it. The problem is the line "schnitzel with noodles", because schnitzel is not normally served with noodles. It was chosen because it rhymes with "crisp apple strudels". The lyrics were written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Other oddities concerning The Sound of Music include the end. While most people think they get into Switzerland, they actually land in Bavaria, quite near Hitler's private house, near Salzburg. In actual fact, the Von Trapp family walked 100 miles down to Innsbruck down towards the Italian border. Luckily, they got there the day before the border shut.
- XL: At 11:11 on the 11th November the Germans celebrate the start of their carnival season, with runs all the way to Ash Wendesday. This is much older than Armistice Day. "Carnival" means "to leave the meat".
Scores
- Jo Brand: -6 points
- Rob Brydon: -7 points
- Alan Davies: -36 points
- Sean Lock: -76 points
Broadcast details
- Date
- Friday 15th January 2010
- Time
- 8:30pm
- Channel
- BBC One
- Length
- 30 minutes
Repeats
View more broadcast data

Already a donor or subscriber? Sign in
Cast & crew
Regular cast | |
---|---|
Stephen Fry | Host / Presenter |
Alan Davies | Regular Panellist |
Guest cast | |
---|---|
Jo Brand | Guest |
Rob Brydon | Guest |
Sean Lock | Guest |
Writing team | |
---|---|
John Mitchinson | Question Writer |
Justin Pollard | Question Writer |
James Harkin | Question Writer |
Molly Oldfield | Question Writer |
Production team | |
---|---|
Ian Lorimer | Director |
Piers Fletcher | Producer |
Katie Taylor | Executive Producer |
David Morley (as Dave Morley) | Executive Producer |
Nick King | Editor |
Jonathan Paul Green | Production Designer |
Howard Goodall | Composer |
Videos
Long Socks
Rob Brydon talks about the advantages of men wearing long socks.
Featuring: Alan Davies, Stephen Fry, Jo Brand, Rob Brydon, Sean Lock.
Deckchair Failure
Jo Brand talks about what happened to her when she was confronted by some Germans on holiday.
Featuring: Alan Davies, Stephen Fry, Jo Brand, Rob Brydon, Sean Lock.
View related press

Already a donor or subscriber? Sign in