"How to pronounce Sd Kfz?" Topic

I'm hoping that a native German speaker can help me out with this. I took a few years German in university, but never progressed past a basic understanding. How does one say the contraction Sd Kfz? I know that soldiers would refer to vehicles by their names/nick names, but I'd like to have some idea how to say the general designation (Sdkfz 10/1 for example).

I always just said: S d k f z

It's an abbreviation of Sonderkraftfahrzeug, so would it even have a pronounciation of its own?

Interesting question…

Es Dee Kay Ef Zed.

Es Dee Kaa Ef Zet. For a more German sound. (Maybe)

I always have confusion with my wife over BMP, as she is Ukrainian and says it entirely different – Be(not bee)-em-pe(not pee!)

I've always said it like Iron Ivan – S-d-k-f-z (zed, being English… do you Americans say S-D-K-F-Zee?). Would be interesting to hear the correct German version.

(No native German speaker but 12 years of German under my belt. It's just an abbreviation so you just say the letters individually)

It depends on in what country you are in. Of course, everyone should just be able to say the word fully and quickly. SdKfz and BMP are of course some of the best for that.

What a mouthfull! Does anyone actually say that, though? Or do you just say, "that halftrack"?

Isn't D pronounced DAY? K, KAH?

So, ESS DAY KAH EFF ZET?

I don't know German (or, much more than the alphabet), but I could see them just saying the whole word! They don't seem adverse to long words.

Indeed we say "Zee" Geoff and as to the BMP in Intel we just called them "bimps", like "Blimp" without the "l". Of course tankers and A-10 pilots called them "targets".
:)

SdKfz means "Sonderkraftfahrzeug" (Special Motor Vehicle). All German military vehicles had a SdKfz-number allocated by the Heereswaffenamt. Those below 100 represented unarmoured vehicles, SdKfz 101, 121, 141, 161, 171 and 181 were PzKfpw I – VI (PzKfpw = Panzerkraftwagen = tank), SdKfz 130 – 140 were Czech tanks ot self-propelled mountings, SdKfz 221 and 231 were armoured cars, SdKfz 250-253 armoured halftracks.
No one would say "Sd Kfz" but simply speak of Sonderkraftfahrzeug.

Bit like reading my Russian book here, describing the BMP Bradley :-)

Now, from a native speaker:

S "ess" as in "estimate"
d "de" as in "definition"

K "kah" as in "calm"
f "eff" as in "efficient"
z "zett" as in …I don't know ; )*

*the 'z' is pronounced rather sharply, like for example the 's' in "it's".
The 'ett' would sound much like the 'et' in "net value".

Yes, it is well possible that this abbreviation was also used in oral speaking. It is not uncommon in German to pronounce abbreviations (such as BMW). But the "SdKfz" is quite a tongue twister and I would say that it was at least uncommon to use like a word.

hope that helps.

-Alex

— final-round.com —

EsDee-KayEfZee, and the folks I game with seem to prefer it to saying Sonderkraftfahrzug.

Goldwyrm:
It would be "SonderkraftfahrzEug" with the "eu" pronounced like the "oy" in "oyster".

That is, if you want to be overly correct ; )

-Alex

— final-round.com —

The Sdkfz 251 or 250 were generally just referred to in abbreviation as SPW (Schutzen Panzer Wagen).

Whilst German may be replete with long words, it is also replete with snappy acronyms – Hiwi, Jabo, Gw, SMG (Schwere MG) etc. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that un-named vehicles were referred to by their Sdkfz designation of course.

I always heard BMPs referred to by US Tankers as "BuMPs", as in the slight hinderances you encounter that will slow you down a bit, but not stop you…

As for SdKfz 25whatever, I pronounce it "Hanomag". Not technically as accurate, but easier to say and most know what you mean when talking about German armored halftracks…

Actually, I think it is PzKpfw, which means Panzerkampfwagen or literally Armored Fighting Vehicle (not Panzerkraftwagen).

After a beer or two, I always referred to them as "skid fizz".

But "the 251 German halftrack" pretty much captures the essence, even if it loses the romance of speaking in the native tongue.

Being German,

I would go with the pronounciations that Final round gave… do not worry the "Z"… they are pronounced alomost the same! If you want you could pronounce it like the first "C" in "Cicero" followed by a "Tet" (like in Tet offensive).

Cheers,

Burkhard
dhc-wargames.de

Here's another vote for skid fizz, even when sober

Schutzenpanzerwagen = SPW = Ess-Pay-Vay. Sorted!

Pay-Vay! That's it, that sounds like Galina's accent!

Sid-Cuffs

I say HALFTRACK

Wouldn't that be just Schützenpanzer for short, without the wagen , but with the Umlaut? I remember coming across that term most, and indeed if I do a google picture search with i, it sems to be a popular term for exactly that family of vehicles.

Ess-Pay-Vay?

Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle?

Halftrack

'Indeed we say "Zee" Geoff and as to the BMP in Intel we just called them "bimps", like "Blimp" without the "l".'

Yes, just another of the many sins for which Fort Huachuca instructors will burn in hell.

In the thousands of lectures, presentations, and briefings I conducted over the years, I only referred to them as "Bee Emm Pees". I tried using the Russian pronunciation once (as Geoff indicates, "Beh Emm Peh"), and was asked what the heck I was talking about.

And no, it never did any good, because the CTC trainers and the folks in troops units were just too lazy to say anything but "bimp". They could manage to rattle off every complicated permutation of US doctrinal terminology (for every one of which, there are ten simpler ways to say it in plain English), but they could only ing manage "bimp". Ignorant s.

No, that's not one of my hot buttons. , no.

We're a nation of insular, culturally illiterate gomers. And our so-called "experts" are just as bad. I remember the time we first took a former Afghan regular army officer (and later mujahideen leader) to talk to a troop unit about the Soviet doctrine he had learned at the Frunze Academy.

Since apparently they didn't trust the several of us who had Russian (including members of the Soviet Military Studies Office, all Soviet FAOs) to translate for him when needed (his English was actually quite fair, but he needed help sometimes with Soviet terminology), the CIA sent along a dumb- translator. Everything was OK, except that the presentation was extended by about 50% because the dumb- translator was so slow and awkward. Then the colonel made reference to the RKKA—and the translator asked him what that meant. He got "the look", meaning, "You really ARE a dumb-", and then the answer. This the idiot translated at "Workers' and Christians' Red Army". And there was much hysterical laughter and rolling about from the back of the room…

For those without the language, the Russian words for "peasant" and "Christian" are slightly similar, but pronounced and emphasized differently. Only a moron (or a bright thing from the Agency) would confuse them. Its a miracle we won the Cold War. Oh, wait…

Allen

@Steve F

>Ess-Pay-Vay?

>Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle?

"Ess-Pay-Vay" is how a German would pronounce "S-P-W" which as discussed was the common reference to an armoured halftrack…

Perhaps that was meant as a joke, in which case please resend! ;-)

w.

Wouldn't it just be "Halbkette" (halftrack)?

Wyatt

We always pronounced it "251's"….

I think the term "Schützenpanzerwagen" would rarely be used at least during conversations… it is not a real fast term. I have read about "Schützenpanzer", "Panzerwagen" or "Kampfwagen" in this context.

Half track would not really see use as it does not really describe what you want to say (there were too many versions of the halftrack in the German Armies) and it is not really freindly to the tongue either.

Most often you find abbreviations of the official term. For example no one would say "Panzerkampfwagen" but just "Panzer" and no one would go and use the initials "PzKw". Which is why I often find it funny when talking to English speakers that they feel the need to refer to these as "Panzerkampfwagen" or "Mark somethings". Neither would anyone actually say SdKfz in a sentence unless he is really after the specific model.

And if possible you would call a vehicle by it´s common nickname. A PzKw IV is a "Essgeschirr" (mess tin), a V is a Panther and a VI is a Tiger.

Cheers,

Burkhard
dhc-wargames.de

Nobody else calls it a brew up?

Out of curiosity, and somewheat related, did German soldiers refer to the tanks as Panzer VI or Tiger?

Geoff,

it was refered to as a Tiger. Oddly enough in the accounts by German tankers I have read they always refered to the "Königstiger" as the Tiger II and called the former name an allied term!

Cheers,

Burkhard
dhc-wargames.de

I tend to convert the acronyms and abbreviations in my head; it's not a 'Panzer 2', it's a 'mark 2 tank'. 'Panzerkampfwagen' isn't a proper noun, so I don't feel the need to import a clumsy German compound word when the perfectly good English word 'tank' will do.

As an avid WW2 gamer and champion of the underdog forces in miniature, I say it's "char-bait" and I say "open fire!" with a distinctly French accent… >;D

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

So, what did they call the Panzer III and IV? Just Panzer III, or IV?

'Panzerkampfwagen' isn't a proper noun, so I don't feel the need to import a clumsy German compound word when the perfectly good English word 'tank' will do.

Except that 'tank' really means 'liquid container' and, as far the fighting vehicle is concerned, was just a code name that stuck, whereas 'Panzerkampfwagen' is an accurate and unambiguous term for an armoured fighting vehicle.

'Sd Kfz' I've no idea why, but I keep referring to them as 'Skidaddles'

link

…well they move pretty fast :(

I like SID KA FOOZ

Oh and lets not forget the GRENATEN OUT TOPPEN WERFER

Isn't it the same number of syllables? There shouldn't be a need to abbreviate it in speech.

I usually go with "halftrack" or "251." For a while the guys were calling them "Skudfuzz" and we all knew that meant SDKFZ. I still do it with a new group, and they all know what I'm saying.

Another vote for

"Ess"
"Dee"
"Kah"
"Eff"
"Zed"

Now what about panzerschreck?

@ wehrmacht – the SPV or Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle comes from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and was a very common Dinky toy when I was a lad. So, yes, a failed attempt at levity!

On "panzer" – surely that is now an English word meaning "German tank"? You wouldn't apply it to a British tank, in the way that Dr Zoidberg would like to do, unless you were using it metaphorically to express your disapproval of the tanks in question (or their use) by tarring them with the Nazi brush.

helmet101

Another vote for

"Ess"
"Dee"
"Kah"
"Eff"
"Zed" (= TSETT)

Entirely correct. Except abreviations are not spoken as the abrieviated form in German, the words indicates by the individual letters are ALLWAYS said in full.

Threfore a German would not know what an SdKfz was. (Note also the capatalisation of the nouns).

Only recently, ie since the late 80s, has the use of "Pronounced initialisations" become more prevelant.

(There are exceptions, such as SS, But NOT SA, or SD, which are still known 90% by thier FULL titles (MY NOTES IN BRACKETS)).

(DUDEN. "Die Grammatik", Band 4. and DUDEN "Aussprachewörterbuch", Band 6. Dudenverlag, 2006.)

Ah. And "Panzer" just translates as Armour. Wikings and Noermans wore "kettenpanzer", Or "Lederpanzer" Literally "cahin armour" or "Leather armour"…Are they still making the Xena series, talking of which? ·

I always found the nick-names for the various forms WW2 German police quite intriguing -

Kripo – criminal policeman
Schupo – protective police
Orpo – order police (regular police)
Sipo – security police
Gestapo – secret state police

I think there were similar terms for neighbourhood, railway, traffic police and so on.

"On "panzer" – surely that is now an English word meaning "German tank"?"

Yes Panzer is now an official English word included in the Oxford English dictionary. So Panzer II is a perfectly valid way to refer to a Mark 2 tank.

"Yes, just another of the many sins for which Fort Huachuca instructors will burn in hell."

Its ok Allen, I dont take insult, I was Air Force intel
:)

OK then Zoidberg, I'll call them AFVs instead of tanks. That do you? :)