Fun with words - those wacky Alsatians.

I've always thought that "whacky" or "wacky" - meaning silly or screwball - had something to do with getting "whacked" on the head. Apparently, the on-line etymology dictionary thinks that's the origin of the word also, which claims:

"wacky "crazy, eccentric," 1935, variant of whacky (n.) "fool," late 1800s British slang, probably ultimately from whack "a blow, stroke," from the notion of being whacked on the head one too many times."

Now, I'm not so sure based on what I've recently read in Jack Beatty's "The Lost History of 1914: How the Great War Was Not Inevitable." In that book, Beatty describes the ways in which the supposedly inevitable First World War could have been derailed.

One of those ways might have happened if the use of a certain derogatory word for the people of Alsace-Lorraine had caused a stronger reaction by the German parliament over the military usurpation of legal authority in Alsace Lorraine as a result of the Saverne Affair. If the parliament had reacted stronger than merely passing a hand-slapping censure of the military, according to Beatty, then right-wing elements in Germany might have led a coup de'tat against democracy in 1913, and, thereby, have been too distracted by internal politics to get involved in that nonsense happening in the Balkans in 1914.

In turn, the Savern Affair was kicked off by the use of a derogatory word for the natives of Alsace-Lorraine, and, in a way, it's heartening to learn that political correctness has been with us for over a hundred years.

As we all recall, Alsace-Lorraine was a slice of Europe - the eastern corner of France, from one perspective, the western salient of Germany, from another - that was batted back and forth between the French and Germans for centuries. Predominately, German-speaking, Alsace Lorraine had been attached to France in 1648, during the era of Louis XIV, as a result of the Treaty of Westphalian, which concluded the 30 Years War.

Germany re-acquired Alsace-Lorraine in 1871 as a result of its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. Germany, nonetheless, looked at the region as being untrustworthy because of their centuries long incorporation into French nationalism and culture.

There was a term that was used by the Germans to describe the people of the region, which seemed to gesture at their foreigness. The word was "wackes." It seems that the "name Wack and/or Wackes probably is of Latin derivation, meaning “vagabond, wanderer, foreigner.” It might also have to do with cattle, from the Latin for “cow,” “vaggas.”

If one stops for a moment, one can see hints of the "cattle" and "wanderer" meme in the words "vaqueros" which became the American "buckeroo."

As is the case with such things - think "okies," for example - the regional word gets loaded with a lot of negative stereotyping by the ascendent elite. So, in the case of the people of Alsace-Lorraine, it happened to be the case that "wackes" came to mean something like "shiftless, weird, undependable, silly, screwball," and it was in that context that in the Sauvergn Affair, the pompous 20 year-old Lt. Gunter von Forstner began referring to the inhabitants of the region where his troops were stationed as "wackes." Needless, to say his comments were directed to a group who included soldiers from Alsace-Lorraine, which led to Lt. Forstner being harassed every time he left the base, which led to the military crackdown, in what has come to be known as "zabernism" - "abusive misuse of military authority; bullying" - which, in turn, nearly led to Germany missing its date with destiny.

So, thus far, we have learned that the people of Alsace Lorrraine were called "wackes", something that found its way into the names of people from that region, and that "wackes" came to mean "silly, foolish or screwball."

Is it just a coincidence that the word "wacky" means "silly, foolish and screwball"?

It seems that when we refer to "wacky tabacky" or call someone "wacky," we are indulging in ancient ethnic insult to the abused people of Alsace Lorraine.