Shutting up the Table Coach

[Lawrence Ng]

"Me no speaka Inglush..." [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[DrewOnTilt]

these are CLASSIC lines, thanks!

[27offsuit]

My personal favorite is...


*sound of me stacking chips and ignoring you*

[Bremen]

[ QUOTE ]
"I am a jelly donut." If he asks where the hell that came from, tell him you're quoting John F. Kennedy.

[/ QUOTE ]
Oddly enough none of the German exchange students I talked to though thats what he said. Apparently Germans are just as bad at German grammar as English speakers are at English. I believe it might also vary by which region of the country you're in (which could explain why they didn't know this).

[CrisBrown]

Hi Bremen,

Re: JFK's "I am a jelly donut."

[ QUOTE ]
Oddly enough none of the German exchange students I talked to though thats what he said. Apparently Germans are just as bad at German grammar as English speakers are at English. I believe it might also vary by which region of the country you're in (which could explain why they didn't know this).

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, according to my best friend (a German) what it comes down to is that German schoolkids don't hear the original speech (in which JFK said "Ich bin ein Berliner"), and instead hear what he meant to say ("Ich bin Berliner"). The crowd to which JFK was speaking roared in approval, even those who recognized JFK's mistake, because the Germans are extremely forgiving about foreign visitors who mangle German. They appreciate that a foreign visitor even attempts to speak the language, and make a point of hearing "what they meant to say" rather than what they actually said.

A classic example of this is a Bavarian beer commercial where an Indian tourist brings his guests to a Biergarten and says, in German, "I'd like to buy a carpet." The waitress pauses for a moment, smiles, nods, and returns with beer for each of the guests. The man smiles proudly to his friends, never knowing that he spoke nonsense and the waitress simply responded to what she knew he meant.

ZDF (a very popular German TV channel) sometimes simulcasts on the web, and I've seen this commercial. It was charming and also illustrated what my friend had described as a very common attitude among Germans: they appreciate your trying to speak German, even if you speak German poorly.

That's what rescued JFK's quote, and why German schoolkids are not taught what he actually said, but what he meant to say. Older Germans, who remember the speech, do remember the mistake ... but very fondly.

Cris

[Blarg]

Er, Hawaii is crawling with mosquitos, Cris. Believe me, I went to school and lived there many years.

[Blarg]

I used to collect stamps when I was a kid, and JFK was on stamps all around the world. It's a rare president who gets that kind of international acknowledgement.

[CrisBrown]

Hi Blarg,

[ QUOTE ]
Er, Hawaii is crawling with mosquitos, Cris. Believe me, I went to school and lived there many years.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the correction. I'd been told that it had none, by someone who liked to vacation there, and thought that very strange.

Cris

[CrisBrown]

Hi Blarg,

Agreed re: JFK. He remains one of the most popular U.S. presidents in the eyes of many people around the world.

While it's common nowadays to think Europeans hate America, in fact that's not (often) true. Many Europeans think we are a bit full of ourselves (often true), and marvel at our prudish religiosity (also true), but most of the Europeans I've talked with -- and especially Germans -- are very fond of America-as-a-people. My friend and those of her generation remember that America rebuilt Germany after WW2, over the objections of our allies and some in our own government, and are still grateful for our generosity and grace-in-victory.

So there's a lot of good will out there to be tapped....

Cris

[kalooki45]

They probably stayed on or near the beach. Shore winds usually protect us from being eaten alive while on holiday..lol