Way of track. German language question

[gunner]

Not so. In the matter of spelling, American English is often more rational: color, honor etc without the irritating redundant "u" introduced by British Francophiles. But there is one noteworthy exception. Americans are shy of the word arse (from Germanic "Arsch"), which is odd, considering the substantial numbers of settlers of German origins. An *** is an animal, a.k.a. donkey. The story of Baalam's *** was not about Baalam's posterior, but about his donkey. So the quaint old American invitation to kiss one's *** fails for the simple reason that we no longer have donkeys. But it is good to know that the folks on the West side of the pond are such animal lovers! And note that the forum software is not bothered by the word arse, but has replaced the word a-s-s- by ***. I wrote it as ***.

Otherwise, I favor those American spellings that move the English language just a wee bit in the direction of phonetic rationalisation. But I draw the line at thru!

Thanks, Patrick! Learned something new!

[old crow]

Schimpfesle, "Americanized" some 150 years ago to Shimfessel. An elderly Austrian lady sorted this out for me a few years back during a search for "history". I spent only two years in Germany in the early 70s but I loved the complexity of the language. Dutch seems easier to understand for some reason but I speak neither German nor Dutch with any fluency.

[gunner]

Schimpfesle. Try that for a family name.

Don´t find any with this name, but Schimpfle is an common name in Bavaria. And the best, there is a brewery with that name closer to me!

[jon_norstog]

The German I learned in 1980 when I chased love from Frankfurt down to Lisbon:

"schmeisse der americanische arschlocken raus!"

thank god for trains! Got us out of the country ahead of the police.

This weekend, the illegals came by my house selling tamales. I bought a dozen. The man saw my black Crown Vic with the spotlight and asked "Su es policia?"
"No, es carro policia" and I added "Dat carro se vende"
"Cundo?"
"Dos mil dollares"
Then the ife asked "Cual ano"
I said "To thousand two"
She asked "Dos mil dos?"
"Si, dos mil dos"

Later I thought about it. At 12 for ten dollars, I think i just sold my Crown Vic for 2400 tamales.

jn

[gunner]

Jon, think about that deal. In my opinion it isn´t OK without a bottle Mescal included. You will need it after the 2400 tamales!

[jon_norstog]

2400 tamales and 6 bottlesof mescal ...u-u-uu-r-r-ppp.

[gunner]

2400 tamales and 6 bottlesof mescal ...u-u-uu-r-r-ppp.

Jon, i´m sure that mixture isn´t to find on any health plan but it will make the bacterias stay away from you! Don´t know if it is for the Alcohol or the smelling!!! LOL

[TDH]

If those 6 bottles of Mescal each have 2 worms you won't care what the tamales taste like.