With all the talk of “krautrock” on here today, I thought I’d point out that the phrase has its roots in the British slang term “kraut,” a derogatory word for a German dating back to World War One. While the term has been used by some German musicians, many others find it highly offensive and prefer to use the term “kosmiche.” Though I do use the word “krautrock” on occasion, I prefer “kosmiche” as it is less loaded and more onomatopoeiac.

Of course, the word “kraut” itself means “cabbage,” so you could say that “krautrock” actually means “cabbage-rock.” But somehow I don’t think people would be quite as accepting of terms like “curryrock,” “spudrock” or “beanrock,” right?