Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Hans wurst n.

[Ger. proper name Hans + wurst, a sausage or salami]

1. (US) a fool, an idiot.

1869
190019502000
2024
[US]C.G. Leland ‘Hans Breitmann’s Christmas’ in Hans Breitmann’s Party 37: Nine vellers tressed like denpins — dey goed to der end’ der ball, / Und dwo Hans Wurst, shack-puddin glowns — dey rolled at em mit a pall.
[US]C.G. Leland ‘Breitsmann in Italy’ in Hans Breitmann in Europe 268: ‘Hans Wurst ist stets ein Deutscher g’west,’ / Das marked der Breitmaun.
[US]Record-Union (Sacramento, CA) 12 Nov. 8/3: Hans Wurst (Jack Sausage), a German.
[UK](con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 114: Hans Wurst: (German—wurst – sausage). The popular German nickname for a German infantryman [...] ‘Hans Wurst’ is a derisory term ordinarily, equivalent to ‘Silly Billy’, ‘Silly Johnny’, or the former-day ‘Jack Pudding’.
[US]Maledicta VII 25: The old personification, Hans Wurst, rarely was used in American English; Hans Wurst was the traditional buffoon in German folk plays since 1600.
[UK]J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 654: [as generic for a German soldier] Then he began to feel parts of my body. Tommy Atkins was no better than Hans Wurst.

2. (also liverwurst) nonsense.

1925
193019401950
1956
[US]T. Thursday ‘Fiction Is Stranger Than Truth’ in Laughter Oct. 🌐 The complete novel was the worst slice of hanswurst I have ever read.
[US]T. Thursday ‘There’s Hicks In All Trades’ in All Sports Feb. 🌐 The left hook [...] the boy who knows his hanswurst can even lay his playmate on the floor with it.
[US]T. Thursday ‘The Big Squawk’ in Smashing Detective Mag. 15 Apr. 🌐 I’ve had enough of this Jackie Gleason and Burns and Allen liverwurst.