Thursday 27 October 2011

Hey Dude!


It struck me today that there is a specific vocabulary, English language vocabulary I mean, that German men love to use. First and foremost on this vocab list is the word "dude". I last heard this a couple of days ago from a 60+ advertising chap who addressed a colleague with a chirpy "Hey dude". M-a-j-o-r embarrassing alert. I mean, please. But of course they don't see that. To them, such language catapults the up into the sphere inhabited by really "cool" guys like (were he still alive) Steve Jobs, an idol if ever there was one.

Which brings us to the second most (if slightly more mainstreamy) word - cool. Pronounced, of course "kuhl". Kuhl duhd, so to speak.

Their real favourite however, is "FTW" (For the win). Now that, they interject into absolutely everything. To use that acronym, in their books, lifts them up into the stellar superleague of mega-kuhl.

You can sort of see where the use of all those rather lame (and by now definitely outdated) words is meant to get them. The male-bonding of the totally relaxed guy, techie, nerdy, but certainly totally in charge and in control. The sort of guy who'd been collecting car parts catalogues ten years ago, and could -and would!- have told you all their abbreviations .

You know what I call it? Pathetic.

Monday 17 October 2011

Bayern - froschgrün aber praktisch


Kein Bundesland ist so schön wie Bayern- und in keinem andern wird ein solcher Raubbau mit der Schönheit betrieben wie hier.

Vielleicht kommt es daher, daß ästhetisches Empfinden hier sehr sehr schwach ausgeprägt ist. Alles wird dem Prinzip "bragdisch" untergeordnet. Bragdisch muß die Bergkleidung sein - da macht es nichts, daß der Anorak türkis und die bragdische Funktionshose froschgrün mit gelben Streifen ist. Bragdisch muß der Parkplatz sein, nämlich direkt vor dem Haus und natürlich muß auch der Ort eine bragdische Durchfahrt haben. Dafür wird dann alles abgeholzt, plattgemacht, wegplaniert und drüberbetoniert was das Zeug hält. Bragdisch eben.