Literally: “pea counter” / meaning: very pedantic person
There are tons of clichés about German manners, by far exceeding bratwurst, sauerkraut and lederhosen. The world sees us Germans as a the only people in the world who are ironing their underpants. As the only people in the world who will call you in panic and shame to inform you they will be 3 minutes late for the appointment. As the only people in the world who will wait for 15 minutes at a red light at 2 a.m with not a soul for miles around—while being on foot.
To sum it up, most German clichés revolve around their somewhat pedantic attitude. In other words: Germans will break out in sweat if not everything is in perfect order, just the way it was planned. This is reflected in a plethora of German words describing pedantic persons, with Erbsenzähler (“pea counter”) being perhaps the one most frequently used. In fact, it would not overstretch my brain to imagine a German guest at a restaurant, complaining to the waiter that he has exactly 12 peas less on his plate than the man at the other table.
