German · Sports & the Terraces
Gurkentruppe
GOOR-ken-troop-uh · /ˈɡʊʁ.kn̩.tʁʊ.pə/
A shambolic bunch of losers / a Sunday-league outfit
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"Cucumber troop"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
A "Gurke" (cucumber) is slang for a dud — a bad player, a lemon of a car — so a whole "Gurkentruppe" is a rabble that couldn't organise itself. Withering but comic, aimed at an underperforming team or, in the office, a hopeless department. No real vulgarity, all contempt.
Heard in the wild
0:4 gegen den Letzten? Diese Gurkentruppe!
0-4 against the bottom club? What a shambolic bunch!
Where it lands
Germany — sports & general
Quick answers
- What does "Gurkentruppe" mean?
- In German, "Gurkentruppe" means "A shambolic bunch of losers / a Sunday-league outfit". Literally it's "Cucumber troop". A "Gurke" (cucumber) is slang for a dud — a bad player, a lemon of a car — so a whole "Gurkentruppe" is a rabble that couldn't organise itself. Withering but comic, aimed at an underperforming team or, in the office, a hopeless department. No real vulgarity, all contempt.
- Is "Gurkentruppe" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
- How do you pronounce "Gurkentruppe"?
- Say it "GOOR-ken-troop-uh" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ˈɡʊʁ.kn̩.tʁʊ.pə.
Related in German
Schiri, du Pfeife! SHEE-ree doo PFY-fuh Ref, you useless clown! Zeig mal Eier! TSYKE mahl EYE-er Show some balls! / Grow a pair! Flasche leer! FLASH-uh LAIR Out of gas / totally spent (of a player or team) Bist du blind, oder was? BIST doo BLINT OH-der VASS Are you blind or what?! — the all-purpose bad-call howl Quatsch! KVATCH Nonsense! / Rubbish! / No way! Arsch ARSH Arse / ass — and the second great compound-engine of German
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "What a mess".
- French Bordel ! What a mess! / Chaos! — also 'what the hell' as an intensifier
- Greek σκατά Shit! / Crap! — and 'garbage / terrible' for anything low quality.
- Italian Che casino! What a mess! / What chaos!
- Japanese めちゃくちゃ A total mess / all messed up (or: super, as an intensifier)
- Korean 어떡해 Oh no / what do I do?! — the national noise of small panic.
- Polish masakra A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'
- Portuguese Merda! Shit! / Crap!
- Russian Капец! That's it, it's over / Damn / Whoa
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.