Alman

What it means

1. 1.

   A stereotypically German German: the one who rings the Ordnungsamt about your barbecue smoke, insists on separating the recycling correctly, and books the sun lounger at 6am. It describes behaviour, not ancestry.

2. 2.

   Overwhelmingly used as a joke, including by ethnic Germans about themselves — 'voll der Alman-Move' is a standard self-deprecation. Said with a straight face and no affection, it is a mild ethnic jab.

Literally: German (in Turkish).

Examples with translations

• Er hat sich über die Lautstärke beschwert — voll der Alman.

  He complained about the noise level — absolute German move.

• Ich hab die Mülltrennung dreimal kontrolliert. Ich weiß, ich bin ein Alman.

  I checked the recycling three times. I know, I'm a walking German stereotype.

Where it comes from

Turkish Alman, 'German', itself from the French-derived name for the country. It moved from Turkish-German family speech into general youth speech around 2017–18 via meme accounts, above all @almans on Instagram, which built the modern stereotype catalogue almost single-handedly.

First attested: around 2017