Gnomes of Zurich: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Derogatory nickname}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}

{{wikt|gnome of Zurich}}

'''Gnomes of Zurich''' is a disparaging term for [[Swiss bank]]ers.<ref>{{cite news

| magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]

| date = 12 March 1965

}}</ref><ref name="Press2014">{{cite book

}}</ref>

| quote = At the time, Swiss bankers were seriously upset about the label 'Gnomes of Zurich,' stuck on them by Britain's Labour&nbsp;... We got along well and the great banker took his time to dispel 'all those nonsensical fairy tales' about gnomes and such.

}}</ref><ref name="Hope2008">{{cite book

}}</ref> [[Zürich]] is the commercial centre of [[Switzerland]].

| work = [[BBC News Magazine]]

}}</ref><ref name="Norris2014">{{cite book

| quote = The gnomes of Zurich, as international money speculators had been labelled by the Labour Party, were being given a hard fight. But for some&nbsp;...

}}</ref>

Although Swiss bankers had been criticised in Britain since the 1950s, the term "gnomes of Zürich" originated in a crisis meeting of the Labour politicians in November 1964.<ref name="Fasnacht2009">{{cite book

| quote = So, he snapped after a meeting 'the gnomes of Zurich are at work again.' T.R. Fehrenbach published 2 years later his bestseller 'The Gnomes of Zurich.' His book provided the first searching look behind the geranium-boxed barred windows}}</ref> The politicians blamed Swiss bankers for raising speculation against the pound.<ref name="LLC1968">{{cite magazine

| author = Adam Smith

| title = My Friend the Gnome of Zurich Says Don't Look Over Your Shoulder, A Major Money Crisis is Gaining on You

| magazine = [[New York (magazine)|New York]]

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=puECAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17

| page = 17

| quote = You will recall that the phrase 'the Gnomes of Zurich' came from George Brown, Deputy Prime Minister of Great Britain, in 1964. When the pound was under attack, Mr. Brown said it was 'the Gnomes of Zurich'

}}</ref> During the meeting, politician [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]] criticised the Swiss bankers and said,『The gnomes of Zürich are at work again.』The term『Gnomes of Zürich』was then used by many other politicians of the time.<ref name="blah" /> Then Prime Minister, [[Harold Wilson]] vowed to resist the gnomes' sinister power.<ref name="Bewes2012">{{cite book

| quote = pocket was still worth twenty shillings, Harold Wilson damned them to be known for ever more as the gnomes of Zurich.&nbsp;... where Gringotts Bank is run by goblins, the gnomes' uglier cousins, also traditionally cast as the bad guys in fairytales.

}}</ref>

Soon after the catchphrase became famous, a few Swiss bankers started answering their phone as "Hello, gnome speaking."<ref name="blah" /> An audacious Swiss banker moved to London in order to set up his business and named it Gnome of [[Notting Hill]].<ref name="blah" /> The phrase also gave name to the 1966 [[T. R. Fehrenbach]] book on the history and practices of Swiss private banking, ''The Gnomes of Zurich''.<ref name="Fehrenbach1966">{{cite book

| author = T. R. Fehrenbach

| title = The Gnomes of Zurich

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=37GNaOKEuwsC&pg=PA76

| date = 1 January 1966

| publisher = Anchor Press

| isbn = 978-0-856-32021-7

}}</ref>

Inthe early 21st century, Zürich bankers have lost the foothold they had in the global economy due to the rise of London, New York, Dubai and Hong Kong as leading financial capitals.<ref name="blah" />

The [[MoneyMuseum (Zurich)|Zürich Money Museum]] displays the sculpture of a gnome - founder Jürg Conzett says that nowadays, bankers see gnome as "almost" a noble title. Bankers currently based in London who are agitated by rising taxes, stricter [[Financial regulation|regulation]] and public animosity towards investment banking have considered moving in large numbers to Zürich itself, where banking is "the state religion".<ref name="blah" />

* The phrase is reflected in the traditions of the Zürich Grasshoppers Rugby Club, whose mascot is a gnome and which occasionally plays a third/casual team called the Gnomes.{{fact|date=March 2022}}

* Gnomes of Zurich is also the name of a 1960s rock band from [[North East England]], and a 1990s psychedelic rock band from [[Minneapolis]].<ref name="Inc.1999">{{cite book

| quote = Unfortunately, Courtney Love, who lived in Minneapolis at the time, got her hooks into Weiland, and it wasn't long before the two of them headed off&nbsp;... Butch Vig's production turned the band's blunt-instrument thud into an assault weapon blast.&nbsp;... Tad Hendrickson Year Released: 1989 For Fans Of: Big Black, Drunks With Guns, Killdozer Bio Facts: Breuer went on to form Janitor Joe and Gnomes of Zurich.

}}</ref>

* The Gnomes of Zürich are one of the playable factions in Steve Jackson's card game of conspiracy, ''[[Illuminati (game)|Illuminati]]''. Their goal is to collect a specified amount of megabucks, the game's currency.<ref name="KaufeldSmith2006">{{cite book

| quote = You can turn the tables on the whole conspiracy-theory realm when you take over the world in Illuminati: New World Order,&nbsp;... For instance, the Illuminati sect called The Gnomes of Zurich loves corporations and banking, so they get a bonus for&nbsp;...

}}</ref>

* The phrase is reflected in the ''Black Swan Man'' comic, where the main character gained deep financial knowledge by living with Alpine gnomes in his youth. <ref name="Black Swan test">{{cite web|url= http://blackswanman.com/#lg=1&slide=16| title=''The Birth of the Black Swan Man''| publisher=J. Galt Holdings, LLC. | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181103112711/http://blackswanman.com/ |archive-date=3 November 2018| url-status=live}}</ref>

* The original version of the computer game ''[[Zork]]'' makes reference to an "[[epicene]] gnome of Zurich".

* [[Valiant Comics]]' ''[[Archer & Armstrong]]'' features a group of literal gnomes referred to as the Gnomes of Zurich, one of many factions within the Sect formed to kill the titular Armstrong.

* The ''[[Cyberpunk 2020]]'' adventure-book ''Northwest Passage'' plays on the term by featuring a stockbroker family called the Zuriches in the city of [[Nome, Alaska|Nome]].

[[Category:Pejorative terms for people]]

[[Category:Slang terms for people]]