Etymology and slang (in the DX universe)

[Hasimir]

So most of the slang and jargon in the game is either really obvious where it originated or directly explained (as in the ebook descriptions of technology), but there is one word the origin of which escapes me. That being: hanzer.

Now I know it's another term for augmented people, like cog. Unlike cog, however, I can't work out the source of that term. Is it a concatenation of a phrase or description? Or is it something else entirely? Does anyone know or have any ideas on that?

[redfblack]

Apparently it's slang that originated from "enhancer".

[Hasimir]

Originally posted by Red:

Apparently it's slang that originated from "enhancer".

Ah, brilliant ... saying it out loud it now seems obvious, but I just couldn't see it before. Thanks.

It's so nice to see a game where the writers have put that much effort in to flesh it out (even taking into account the existing work from the original). It all serves to convince me more and more that the similarities between the Humanity Front and the Pro-Life movement are not entirely coincidental.

[Rubi]

Sure they don't mean that guy? http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Hansel-zoolander-601855_1024_768.jpg

[Hasimir]

Originally posted by Johnny "The Nut" Fancypants:

Sure they don't mean that guy? http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Hansel-zoolander-601855_1024_768.jpg

Hey, at least he can turn to both the right and the left! ;-)

[Lord Of Dorkness]

I don't remember if this is from an intervjue or the in-game commentary, but it’s apparently the german word for 'tank' with (almost) phonetic spelling and the 'p' of the 'ph' sound silent..

Panzer = [ˈpantsɐ] → Hanzer.

So it's basically a mispronounced slash misspelled insult implying you/augmented people are nothing but unfeeling killing machines that got repeated enough to become its own word.

I can’t say I care for the intent of the word, but I like the cleverness. Not often you see that type of logic to a ‘new’ word even in sci-fi.