German politicians and their recent troubles with the English language!:shock:
Günther Oettinger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icOO7Ut1P4Y&NR=1
Guido Westerwelle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLYGPWQ0VjY
I lived in Bavaria for 3 yrs, so i have no problem understanding “Germlisch” I’m sure My “Engman” was equally funny to the locals 
It does bring back memories. We all read the same language book, “How to get your face slapped in 7 languages”:mrgreen:
Hell, I have problems understanding Bavarians!
I did get some odd looks if i used the local dialect Farther North, didnt get slapped tho,
I have to say it was amusing to watch a local try to make the “th” sound, it seemed almost painful for them. (much like the face we would make trying to sound out a letter with umlauts)
No one would ever slap a Bavarian because with these thick alpine skulls it’s pretty useless!
I have to say it was amusing to watch a local try to make the “th” sound, it seemed almost painful for them. (much like the face we would make trying to sound out a letter with umlauts)
The English “th” is just an unnatural sound to the common German tongue that’s why we tend to replace it with the convenient, infamous “z”.
Ze German tongue iz common but unnatural, vich is vy ze ‘z’ is infamouz ven it replacez ze z in ‘ze’. :mrgreen:
The older folks would mostly use the “Z”, younger ones also used “D” dis, dat, etc. It took some time before I got used to Beemers referred to as BMV’s or VW’s as wee vee’s. Mistranslations were common, one fellow referred to me as a Zupfen, I asked what that meant, and he showed me a dictionary showing the meaning, Twitchy, or jerky. It was explained to me by a third party that the intended meaning was Yank. (that saved a diplomatic incident, as I’m not twitchy )
Never heard of that so I checked it out. “Zupfer”, a Bavarian/Franconian nickname for G.I.'s that came up in the early post-war period. There are two versions about the meaning. One says “Zupfer” (from the German verb “zupfen” = “to pick” or “to pluck”) originally referred to Afro-Americans only, a somewhat pejorative allusion to work on cotton plantations.
The alternate version says G.I.'s were called “Zupfer” as they used to help during the grape harvest.
Anyway, Bavarians call us (the rest of Germany) “damn Prussians” or “fish heads”, so what the heck…:mrgreen:
Fish heads? where does that come from?
Everybody who lives northwards of Bavaria is -in their view- a coast dweller, hence a fish head.
thats a hoot…
Reminds me of whenever Noel Forgeard (ex-CEO of EADS) spoke English with his thick French accent. Very amusing.
Yes, Germany has a somewhat flipped understanding of the North/South principle compared to the US.
Here, the Southerners tend to consider themselves superior to the Northerners, while in the US its the other way around.
Also important linguistic note: Never confuse a Südländer (Southerner) with a ‘Südländer’ - the latter is common codeword for Turks, as German media isn’t allowed to mention the ethnicity of criminals.
And I can attest to the difficulty in speaking ‘th’ - I’ve been living in Canada for four years, yet I still haven’t perfected it.
I try to avoid ‘three’ or ‘thirty’ whenever possible and add the necessary gesture to avoid having to repeat it…
Also FTG, how could you forget the following pearls of the German language:
Saupreiss [Sow Prussian] - Prussians/Brandenburgians, Berliners
Badenser - Badeners, now Baden-Wurttembergers
Gelbfuessler [Yellow Footers] - Baden-Wurttembergers
Buletten - Berliners
Flachlandtiroler [Flatland Tirolers] - Any non-Alpine Germans that visit the Alps as obvious tourists.
Bazis - Bavarians
Schlickrutscher [mudsliders] - North Germans
For other nations:
Kaskoppe [Fake Dutch; Cheeseheads] - Dutch
Inselaffen [Island Monkeys] - English
Japsen - Japanese
Frittenkoepfe [Fried Heads] - Belgians
Spaghettifresser [Spaghetti Gorgers] - Italians
Mostschaedel [Cider Skulls] - Austrians
Karpatenschluempfe [Carpathian Smurfs] - Romanians
Zupfer [Pluggers, in reference to the Black American Cotton Workers but applied to all equally] - Americans
Polack - Poles
Schluchtenscheisser [Ravine Shitters] - Austrians, sometimes Swiss
Schlitzaugen [Slit Eyes] - Asians
Schwarzkoeppe [Blackheads] - Southern Europeans, Turks, Arabs
Kanake - Southern Europeans, Turks, Arabs, Central Asians
Aren’t those real Gems? Always fun compiling them.
For other nations:
Kaskoppe [Cheeseheads] - Dutch
Inselaffen [Island Monkeys] - English
Japsen - Japanese
Frittenkoepfe [Fried Heads] - Belgians
Spaghettifresser [Spaghetti Gorgers] - Italians
Mostschaedel [Cider Skulls] - Austrians
Karpatenschluempfe [Carpathian Smurfs] - Romanians
Zupfer [Pluggers, in reference to the Black Americans] - Americans
Polack - Poles
Schluchtenscheisser [Ravine Shitters] - Austrians, sometimes Swiss
Schlitzaugen [slit eyes] - Asians
Schwarzkoeppe [Blackheads] - Southern Europeans, Turks, Arabs
Kanake - Southern Europeans, Turks, Arabs, Central Asians
What a linguistic enrichment :lol: Zanks Schuultz
I am edified, and uplifted.