Pumpernickel means "devil's fart", a definition accepted by the publisher Random House, and by some English language dictionaries, including the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary adds "so named from being hard to digest". A variant of this explanation is also given by the German etymological dictionary "Kluge" that says the word is older than its usage for the particular type of bread, and may have been used as a mocking name for a person of unrefined manners ("farting Nick") first. The change of meaning may have been caused by its use as a mocking expression for the (in the eyes
What Is This? project while the former was seen as side endeavor. What Is This released their debut EP "Squeezed" in 1984. Around this time, Hillel Slovak had become uncertain of his role in the band and decided to rejoin the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He left What Is This in 1985, and later that year the band would release its only full-length studio album "What Is This?" and its final EP "3 Out of 5 Live". After this, the band broke up. Alain Johannes later met Natasha Shneider and the duo formed Walk The Moon, whose sole studio album featured Jack Irons