Double Standards

Here's something I don't get: A German radio station was just playing "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus. There's a line in it saying "her boyfriend's a dick / he brings a gun to school"... Now guess what they censored? -- Yes, indeed. They left the "dick" in there and garbled the "gun". Now what's up with that? If you've read my short story partly based on my experiences in working for an American college radio station (no English version available yet, sorry), I can tell you that whilst I made up most of the science-fictionish elements of the story, the FCC (federal Communications Commission) forms people had to fill out when "offensive content" had been aired are absolutely real. You probably know it is common practice in English-speaking countries to "BEEP" out any offensive language like the f-word (or aforementioned d-word), which usually does not happen in Germany because of the simple fact that most of these words do not sound even half as offensive to German ears (including those of the "moral authorities") when uttered in a foreign language. And although I can understand that bringing guns to school has become a sensitive topic here in Germany as well, I fail to see how the WORD itself in that CONTEXT seems more offensive than calling the person an expletive.

(Re-)Defining Vocabulary

Food for thought: What do you call a cuddly animal kept in a vehicle? (mark/highlight the line below the three dots using your mouse pointer and left button)

.

.

.

a carpet

...just random ideas going through my mind while putting together test questions...

Erm... Happy Easter?

Did I mention I'm not too fond of Easter Bunnies?

They're still looking - this is your chance!

To whom it may concern: Please do return Störtebeker's head - we needed it for a short report in 8b and people keep asking...

Well, I'm making that part up, but when I read the news around the date of Katharina's & Linda's short report, I really wondered "what if...?" - imagine the opening lines: "Today, we would like to tell you something about Germany's most famous pirate, Klaus Störtebeker. This (rummaging in backpack, eventually producing an actual skull) is his head!"

That should have gotten their attention.

Just my weird imagination running wild.

The Force Is Strong With This One

If you know my predilection for playing with words, you can imagine there are times that I wish I had come up with one of these - here is your clue: What could the newspaper headline read if people were to cross the Han river in Seoul, South Korea, by walking a tightrope, one by one?

(mark the following text with your mouse to read it and/or click on the invisible text below to read the full article)

Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo

(via)

Anglicism Spotting

Here's a little something that turned up in a vocabulary test last year. I didn't get it then, and for the life of me, I still can't figure it out. What was that student thinking? Anyway, dear 9th graders: If this ever turns up again, you'll know what to write - or will you?

"Ugly bags of mostly water"

Here's one for 9d: The example I used to illustrate the adjective "ugly" in the vocabulary part of our test really wasn't mine - you can read all about the "Star Trek - The Next Generation" episode this statement comes from right here.
Only recently has it come to my attention that there is, in fact, a documentary about the Klingon Language Institute (in Klingon and starring Michael "Worf" Dorn! 8) ) that is also called "Earthlings - Ugly Bags of Mostly Water", although technically it wasn't the Klingons but the Microbrains who first came up with that description. Qapla', nevertheless.

"Aliens should stand at attention"

An interesting bit of the U.S. flag code (§9: Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag). Still wondering how and if they're going to enforce that. Any ideas, Lieutenant Ripley?

Mr.Weese Goes WEG

There are times when German and English don't mix so well (cf. my most favorite example of "Happy Shopping in der City"), but I just couldn't resist that headline. As some of you may know, I'll be leaving Coburg to move in with my wife-to-be and have therefore been transferred to the town of Schwabach's Wolfram-von-Eschenbach-Gymnasium, commonly abbreviated as "WEG". I'll keep on blogging here, and I will try to find more time for these sadly neglected blogs of mine. Enjoy your vacations, everyone!

Ask Mr.Weese

Vesteblick.de, one of Coburg's "city blogs", have asked me to provide them with my expertise on "Denglisch" / "Germ(l)ish" and function as a "Briefboxuncle" (agony columnist) for them. So if you've got any questions concerning English usage in Germany, especially when it comes to PR specialists and the likes messing up the language: fire away (in both languages and on both blogs)!