Tick, often also as the plural ticks, is a common term used in Germany's

right-wing extremist Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

environment to degrade and insult those who think differently, especially

leftists Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

and Punks. According to today's right-wing extremist ideology so-called ticks are seen as the main concept of the enemy and are regarded as "un-Germans ideologicall and culturally". The degradation of humans to

tick Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...

s, i.e.

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

, ties in with the animal

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

s used in the language of National Socialism. The terms "pests" and "

Jewish parasite The "Jewish parasite" is a notion that dates back to the Age of Enlightenment. It is based on the idea that the Jews of the diaspora are incapable of forming their own states and would therefore parasitically attack and exploit states and peoples ...

s" were widespread in National Socialism. Today these pest metaphors are also widely used in right-wing extremist music and can also be seen as indirect incitement for killing. Violence committed by right-wing extremists was often described as "tick slapping". In the punk or rapscene the term is used as an antonym and sometimes as a self-designation. The punk bands "Se Sichelzecken" and "ESA-Zecken" made the swearword part of their names. In recent years the term tick has been made popular and has been used as a self-designation in the musical genre of tick rap. Some followers of the football club

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger ...

, especially in the

ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park ...

scene, also say "Wir sind Zecken" (we are ticks) in fan chants. In the aftermath of the Sea-Watch 3 affair and its intrusion into the port of

Lampedusa Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The ''comune'' of ...

the Italian Minister of the Interior,

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been Federal Secretary of Italy's Lega Nord (Northern League) party ...

, insulted the German captain

Carola Rackete Carola Rackete (; born 8 May 1988 in Preetz, Germany) is a German ship captain who volunteered with the German sea rescue organisation Sea-Watch. In June 2019, she was arrested for docking a migrant rescue ship without authorization in the po ...

as a "German tick" at a party celebration of the

Lega Lega may refer to: Geography * Lega (river) in Poland * Lega, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Lega, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, town in north Poland * Lega, an earlier name for Street, Somerset, a village in England People * Lega (s ...

Barzago Barzago ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. Barzago borders the following municipalities: Barzanò, Bulciago, Ca ...

in July 2019.{{Citation, title=Sea-Watch, l'offesa di Salvini a Carola Rackete: "Pure la zecca tedesca mi ha denunciato", url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bHuKlui0XI, language=en, access-date=2019-10-23

References

Political pejoratives for people Punk