Why not Naso?

[RedRalph]

Why did the Germans shorten National Sozialist to NaZi and NaSo?

 

[Knight-Dragon]

Probably because Nazi sounds cooler? Seems like they like to project themselves as 'cool' (uniforms and everything etc).

 

[RedRalph]

I have only poor German skillz, but it just seems odd. Like, if they called the communist party CoRt instead of CoPa.

 

[Verbose]

Because in German "nazi" actually has an older history than National Socialism. In southern Germany it was apparently a dimunitive for the name of Ignaz. But being an "Ignaz" also could doubl for being a block-head, a bit of an idiot. Hitler's Austrian origin might have helped to make the connection as well. So the "Nationalsozialisten" didn't necessarily call themselves "Nazis". (Some attempts at taking over the word and making it "their own", filling it with new meaning, seems to have been made, but didn't blot out the earlier meaning of, well, a bit of an idiot.)

 

[Dachs]

Maybe I'm colossally oversimplifying things, but the way you pronounce Nationalsozialisten, the first four letters, while spelled "Nati", sound like "Nazi".

 

[warpus]

Maybe I'm colossally oversimplifying things, but the way you pronounce Nationalsozialisten, the first four letters, while spelled "Nati", sound like "Nazi".

That's exactly right actually, it comes from the pronunciation.

 

[RedRalph]

Hm, I had read several times that it was from the NA and the ZI in Sozialism, but it seems Dachs is, as usual, irritatingly correct. I look quite foolish.

 

[BuckyRea]

Maybe I'm colossally oversimplifying things, but the way you pronounce Nationalsozialisten, the first four letters, while spelled "Nati", sound like "Nazi".

To be fair, these were fascists after all. If they'd called themselves "the Naughties" no one would have taken them seriously.

 

[gangleri2001]

Because when you're speaking in German, the word Nationalsozialist sounds like "natsionalsotsialist". And since the Z in German sounds like a TS, they decided to replace the T with a Z.

Edit: D'oh! I hadn't seen Dachs' post.

 

[W|M]

Or anyone else's below Dach's?

 

[Marla_Singer]

Hm, I had read several times that it was from the NA and the ZI in Sozialism, but it seems Dachs is, as usual, irritatingly correct. I look quite foolish.

I heard the same thing, and wikipedia seems to be in our side:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany

Here is the source mentionned in the article:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Nazi


Apparently, German Socialists at the time called themselves "Sozi" (shortened form of Sozialist). In front of the "Sozis", there was then the "Nazis". The big difference being that "Nazi" became an official designation, while Sozi remained slang language.

 

[RedRalph]

Hmm... interesting.

 

[Verbose]

Well, I actually still think the OP got this off on the wrong foot from the outset. "Die Nationalsozialisten" back in the day didn't call themselves "Nazis", except as a "Trotzwort".

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi

 

[Marla_Singer]

Well, I actually still think the OP got this off on the wrong foot from the outset. "Die Nationalsozialisten" back in the day didn't call themselves "Nazis", except as a "Trotzwort".

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi

In the article you've cited, they also explain the "sozi" story:

Ab etwa 1930 wurde der Ausdruck in Analogie zu Sozi (Sozialist oder SPD-Anhänger) schärfer distanzierend für die Anhänger Adolf Hitlers gebraucht.