The "Gehen Sie bumsen sich, Die Tageszeitung." Open Thread
German speakers, please note: I'll be happy to make that more grammatical.
By Moe Lane Posted in Die Tageszeitung | Foreign Affairs — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
You don't get to talk about our Presidential candidates that way. Only we get to talk about our Presidential candidates that way.
Arschlöcher.
Open Thread.
Moe Lane
P.S. Via Hot Air Headlines.
The "Gehen Sie bumsen sich, Die Tageszeitung." Open Thread 11 Comments (0 topical, 11 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I believe that it was a one-time thing, too. :)
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
"euch" would correspond to "ihr" ("you," pl.), but Sie ("you" of respect) takes "sich."
I do think that "sich" should come before "bumsen," though, since all verbs except the main verb go at the end of the clause.
All that said, I'm not sure if Germans would use "Gehen." I'm no fluent speaker, but I think that "Bumsen Sie sich" would suffice.
(I'm not even sure, though, if the Germans have an equivalent to our colorful "go @$%# yourself." The insult might offend them less than make them wonder about the physics of such an operation.)
Thanks for the reminder course in German, CrabCakes. It's been 10+ years since I've done anything with it, and I miss it.
Brian
I'm a grad student in Ancient Near Eastern studies, and since the Germans invented my field, I have to be able to read (but, thank God, not speak or write) it at a fairly reasonable clip. I absolutely abhor the language, though.
For a great laugh and another walk down memory lane, check out Mark Twain's essay "The Awful German Language":
In the spirit of one time only you might be inspired to go with, "Fickt euch, Arschlöcher" as a slightly more powerful version of that verb and rolling the secondary insult into the title.
CrabCakes is otherwise correct that "Bumsen Sie sich, Die Tageszeitung" would be right. In German, the "gehen" is superfluous as there is no difference between telling someone to do something and to go do something. It's a much more direct language.
that Germans were always nonplussed at American/Brit usage of the f-word and didn't really get the insult quality. On the other hand they became really exercised at "pig" and "dog" as part of an insult which makes the average GI think they are dealing with a kindergartener
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
I don't know where it came from.
"Always be honest with yourself. Even if you are honest with no one else."
--me
Can't even remember what they're called (the sie, sich, euch, etc)
"Always be honest with yourself. Even if you are honest with no one else."
--me
After reading what "Die Tageszeitung" actually wrote, I know we don't talk about our candidates that way, with such racist overtones....
Not that I didn't know what was meant, but I know there are some who would take that and run with it.
Brian
For the laugh :) My high school German apparently didn't cover everything, and Google(tm) Translate(tm) was kind enough to let me know what was said.
I'm glad I wasn't drinking my coffee at the time!
Brian
And I'm not sure that they would really understand it. We need a fluent German speaker to let us know the appropriate insult.
Besides, I thought this was a family site...
"Always be honest with yourself. Even if you are honest with no one else."
--me