'JFK' in other langs (was: 'JFK: Just For Kerry')

[Peter A. McGraw]

I thought I remembered that this sort of word play had been common in
communist-era Czechoslovakia, but all my resident expert could come up with
was this:

"Yeah--though I can't think of any off-hand, except one: Somebody in my
grade school writing "Long live the U.S.A!" on the wall of the school; when
questioned by the principal, he claimed it meant "Udatna sovetska armada"
-- the 'brave Soviet Army.'"

Not really the same, but I thought I'd pass it along for a chuckle, at
least.

Peter Mc.

--On Tuesday, February 10, 2004 10:32 AM -0500 Damien Hall
<halldj at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:

> The one example of this kind of humorous reinterpretation that I know of
> from another language, though it's not as good as some of the others
> we've had, is of the 'A' sign to be found on the back of some French cars
> (a red capital 'A' on a white circular sticker).  It actually stands for
> 'Apprenti', 'Learner [Driver]', but it's often reinterpreted as 'Abruti'
> ('stupid') or 'Arriéré' ('[educationally] backward', with a play on the
> fact that 'marche arrière' = 'reverse gear' on a car).
>
> Damien Hall
> University of Pennsylvania



*****************************************************************
Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************