German goiter

From German +‎ goiter, from the stereotype that Germans drink a lot of beer, and from the similarity of a protruding stomach to a protruding goiter.

German goiter (plural German goiters)

1. (US Midwest, idiomatic, humorous, now possibly offensive) A protruding stomach, especially one supposed to be indicative of excessive consumption of beer.
   • 1939, American Flint, volume 28, page 41:

     Brothers Gribble, Berger, Wolf, Shadwill and the writer are still nursing their “beer muscles.” I mean German goitres.

   • 1956 October 8, “Advantages of Being Fat”, in Milwaukee Journal, retrieved 3 Jan. 2010, page 22:

     Any man who likes playing Santa Claus is in much better shape come Christmas if he has a German goiter.

• (paunch attributed to beer): beer baby, beer belly, beer gut, beer muscles, Molson muscle

• See also Thesaurus:paunch.

• German goitre