East German judge
- noun
- Slur
:
[OFENSIVO] juez de Alemania del Este
- Whenever someone is overly critical during family game night, we joke that they're the East German judge.
Examples
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The scores from the East German judge were noticeably lower than everyone else's.
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After my presentation, my boss played the role of the East German judge with his tough critiques.
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The East German judge gave a low score for the performance.
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Why did the East German judges always seem so strict?
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My friend was so harsh while judging our debate that we called him the East German judge.
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During the talent show, the East German judge delivered brutally honest critiques that left many contestants in tears.
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Everyone laughed when we said Aunt Carol was the family’s East German judge for her tough judging of our Christmas cookie competition.
How Harsh
Surface Forms
Morphology
Literally, a B1 learner who knows 'East', 'German' and 'judge' will understand this as a judge from East Germany, so the basic referential meaning is fully compositional. However, the evaluative, stereotypical sense (notably harsh or unfair scoring used humorously) depends on cultural/historical knowledge and is not predictable from the constituents alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
East German judge comes from old international sports contests, where judges from East Germany were famous for giving very strict, low scores. So calling someone an East German judge means they are being 'too harsh' or 'unfair' when they judge.