Home Gudgeon and gist Language Log Mox nix

Mox nix

Language Log 2025-01-25

A contributor to one of the series I oversee wrote to me as follows:

As always, feel free to edit as you see fit, and to use my name or not, depending on context. ("Mox nix" as the GIs like to say in Germany, showing off their German.)   

Although I had never seen "mox nix" written before, I instantly knew what he meant.

Here's the entry for "mox nix" in Wiktionary:

Alternative forms

Etymology

An alteration of German macht nichts (“doesn't matter”) that originated among American soldiers stationed in Germany after World War II.

Pronunciation

Interjection

mox nix

    1. (dated, slang) it doesn't matter; no worries

Adjective

mox nix (not comparable)

    1. (dated, slang) unimportant, irrelevant

Here is a list of such pseudo-German words in English.  They are:

…adapted from the German language in such a way that their meanings in English are not readily understood by native speakers of German (usually because of the new circumstances in which these words are used in English).

  • blitz or "the Blitz" (chiefly British use) – The sustained attack by the German Luftwaffe during 1940–1941, which began after the Battle of Britain. It was adapted from "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). The word "Blitz" (a bolt of lightning) was not used in German in its aerial-war aspect; it acquired an entirely new usage in English during World War II. In British English, 'blitz' is also used as a verb in a culinary context, to mean liquidise in a blender, a food processor or with a handheld blender stick.[citation needed] For the use of 'blitz' in American football, see Blitz (gridiron football); in rugby union, see Blitz defence; for other uses, see blitz.
  • hock (British only) – A German white wine. The word is derived from Hochheim am Main, a town in Germany.
  • nix – nothing; its use as a verb (reject, cancel) is not used in German; synonymous with eighty-six. From the German word 'nichts' (nothing).
  • Mox nix! – From the German phrase, Es macht nichts! Often used by U.S. service personnel to mean "It doesn't matter" or "It's not important".
  • strafe – In its sense of "to machine-gun troop assemblies and columns from the air", 'strafe' is an adaptation of the German verb strafen (to punish).
  • Stein/Beerstein -Meaning a large mug, ceramic or glass, typical at Oktoberfest celebrations. In German, this is actually called a "Krug". Some Krugs are called Steinkrugs, based on the ceramic material they're made from, but they are never called just "Steins".

(source)

"Nix" is especially interesting, because it becomes an English verb in its own right:

Etymology 1

From German nix, colloquial form of nichts (“nothing”). Compare also Dutch niks (“nothing”), informal for niets (“nothing”). More at naught.

Noun

nix (uncountable)

    1. (colloquial) Nothing. [from 1789]

Verb

nix (third-person singular simple present nixes, present participle nixing, simple past and past participle nixed)

    1. To make something become nothing; to reject or cancel. [from 1903]

Synonyms: cancel, reject

Nix the last order – the customer walked out.

(source)

"Nix" becomes even more fun when its Pig Latin variant, ixnay, is borrowed into common English:

Pig Latin version of nix; possibly the only Pig Latin phrase to enter common American English besides amscray and igpay. Ixnay and amscray were used widely in The Three Stooges shorts and The Flintstones episodes, possibly the main sources of popularity for the words.

(source)

Here's "nix" being used in the sense of "negate" in a comment on Language Log.

Here are two linguistic occurrences of "nix" in one Language Log comment.

"Nix" is also "a cross-platform package manager for Unix-like systems, and a tool to instantiate and manage those systems, invented in 2003 by Eelco Dolstra."  (source)

It all comes from nothing.

Neti, neti.

 

Selected readings