LL-L "Language acquisition" 2005.05.06 (03) [E/German]

Fri May 6 17:22:46 UTC 2005

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From: Ingmar Roerdinkholder <ingmar.roerdinkholder at WORLDONLINE.NL>
Subject: LL-L "Language acquisition" 2005.05.05 (09) [D/E]

Wenn einer eine Reise tut... Was denn? Oder ist das schon das ganze
Sprichwort?
Thanks for your wise and kind answers. When replying from the Archives (as
I always do since I don't get the Lllist's mail)I chose the sending
option "to the original pster (lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net)" in stead of "to
the list". That's why I assumed it would only go to you.
Never mind, no worries, nothingwy wrong.
Next time I'll send it to your sassisch address, but the problem in this
case would have been I could not have quoted and have <corrected> your
original Dutch message. In that kind of cases I'll have to nail you onto
the cross in public! (no offense meant here, in Dutch "iemand aan het
kruis spijkeren" is a common expression, that has nothing to do with
religion, coursing or so)

Ingmar

Wreinte:
>As the German saying goes, _Wenn einer eine Reise tut ..._.
>
>So, dear Ingmar, I very much appreciate your help.  Thanks for having
taken
>the time.  It's a good idea to communicate with me privately by writing to
>my private address (sassisch at yahoo.com).  This way you will avoid
>misunderstandings.  (However, once in a while people send stuff to my
>private address that they mean to go to the List ...  Arrrgh!)
>
>Cheerio!
>Reinhard/Ron

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language acquisition

Ingmar:

> Wenn einer eine Reise tut... Was denn? Oder ist das schon das ganze
> Sprichwort?

Wenn einer eine Reise tut, dann kann er was erzählen.

Those who travel have stories to tell.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Language acquisition" 2005.05.05 (09) [D/E]

Ron told his tale of woe concerning Saran wrap...

...if your goal was to encourage others to speak up, regardless of any
mistakes they might make, I can add a few stories.

When I was new to the United States (I spent the first year there near
Pasadena, California), I wanted to hang a few pictures in my new home. So I
drove around looking for a hardware store... and came across one that said
"Nail Studio". Great, I thought, and in I went... oops! I didn't know they
had special places where they give you those pointy red claws just in case
you are discovered by some Hollywood agent today.

In France, I once asked for "moutons de papier" (paper sheep) in a pharmacy,
having forgotten the word for handkerchiefs (mouchoirs, I'll never forget it
now).

When I was still a zoologist, dissecting dead beetles, some British
scientists asked me how I proceeded. I tried to tell them that I cut off
legs, wings and heads first, with the words: "First, I take everything off."
They seemed rather enthusiastic...

When vacationing with my young daughters on the island of Menorca, one of
them developed a high fever. I asked the landlord to call a doctor because
"mi hija está embarazada" (my daughter is pregnant), instead of "mi hija
está enferma" (my daughter is sick). He kept a straight face and just asked
which one - the three-year-old or the five-year-old?

During my first visit in Scotland when I was 14, I saw signs everywhere:
"Keep Britain tidy". Unfortunately, when my hostess asked me to take out
some trash, I said jokingly: "Yes, keep Britain tiny!"

Then there was the German friend who snapped at her British boyfriend:
"Don't always contracept me!" (she meant contradict).

Or my father, who meant to order an ashtray in a restaurant in France with
the words "Un hâchoir, s'il vous plaît!". That was the word that sounded
most like German "Aschenbecher", I suppose. The waiter laughed his head off
and returned with a wooden mallet for tenderizing meat. He should have said
"cendrier", another one I'll never forget.

I think I have mentioned the American friend before who went into a bakery
in rural Bavaria and tried to buy a loaf of bread. He asked, "Sind da auch
keine Präservative drin?" ("There are no condoms in there, are there?"). He
meant preservatives, of course - a classic false friend. Later, he came to
me wondering why they had told him to leave, empty-handed...

And then there was my Scottish friend, a rather prim, almost Victorian type,
always in a suit and tie, who saw a chaffinch in a crowded beergarden near
Munich and tried to tell me he was a hobby ornithologist with the very
words, spoken aloud: "Du musst wissen, ich habe Lust zu Vögeln!".
Unfortunately, what he had said was "I'll have you know that I would like to
f*** right now." Well, I had always known that he fancied me, but it still
came as a bit of a surprise...

The same guy had invited a few friends over and cooked dinner for all of us,
including a nice big Sherry trifle for dessert. He then handed one of the
girls a ladle with the words "Möchtest du eine Mutti sein?". Of course,
"Would you like to be Mother" is just a British way of saying, "could you
please dole out the portions", but none of us knew that back then...

Not to forget my Dutch ex-husband who held up the reed of the krummhorn he
was about to buy and asked the storekeeper: "Ist das auch bekömmlich?" He
meant to say "erhältlich", meaning "easily obtainable" ("bekommen" and
"erhalten" both mean "obtain" in German); whathe said, though, was "Is this
easily digestible when eaten?".

Well, enough already. Making mistakes is obviously not only survivable, but
also very entertaining.

Gabriele Kahn

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