Free Association Thread 3

[SamScribble]

My first trip to Europe when I was fifteen started in London. I was quickly educated about "chips" in a Wimpy's when I tried to order french fries. The next stop was Paris and in the course of trying to show off my new understanding of "international cuisine" ordering chips only got me in trouble. Seems the French have no desire to share their pomme frites in any manner with the Brits. When we hit Frankfort there was no problem since the KFC we went to the first night clearly displayed fries on their menu board even though I guess most places there use "frites" to refer to them. I was so confused at that point I just avoided even asking for the damn things in Zurich and Amsterdam.

Pizza is what I have truly specialized in though in my travels. On my last trip to Europe in 2002, the priority in each country was to sample their idea of pizza. Surprisingly the best ones were found in a little hole-in-the-wall place in the middle of the red light district of Copenhagen and in downtown Budapest.

I too like a good pizza - thin crust, quality topping - and my best two would be from a little bakery in Bruges and a tiny neighbourhood place in Mestre (just outside Venice). Both superb.

 

[Handley_Page]

Oh dear.
What we have here, Luke, is a failure to communicate.

It is all too often assumed that 'Europe' is one place, rather like the 'States.
It ain't.
It's more fun than that. . . .

 

[legerdemer]

Oh dear.
What we have here, Luke, is a failure to communicate.

It is all too often assumed that 'Europe' is on place, rather like the 'States.
It ain't.
It's more fun than that. . . .

You're right, of course, HP, up to a point.

And yet... New York is pretty different from San Francisco which is pretty different from New Orleans which is pretty different still from Savannah, Georgia. Just to name a few. And American English spoken in the deep south is pretty different from that spoken in the midwest or northwest.But I can't argue your point (even though I just did - LOL!)

 

[SamScribble]

You're right, of course, HP, up to a point.

And yet... New York is pretty different from San Francisco which is pretty different from New Orleans which is pretty different still from Savannah, Georgia. Just to name a few. And American English spoken in the deep south is pretty different from that spoken in the midwest or northwest.But I can't argue your point (even though I just did - LOL!)

HP, you don't have to cross The Channel - let alone The Atlantic. I have lived in five different places, and they have all been very different. The Cotswolds is nothing like London; and East Sussex has little in common with Norfolk. And don't ask me to pick a favourite.

 

[Handley_Page]

You're right, of course, HP, up to a point.

And yet... New York is pretty different from San Francisco which is pretty different from New Orleans which is pretty different still from Savannah, Georgia. Just to name a few. And American English spoken in the deep south is pretty different from that spoken in the midwest or northwest.But I can't argue your point (even though I just did - LOL!)

HP, you don't have to cross The Channel - let alone The Atlantic. I have lived in five different places, and they have all been very different. The Cotswolds is nothing like London; and East Sussex has little in common with Norfolk. And don't ask me to pick a favourite.

I understand, but at least it is nominally the same language.
Different stresses, strains and dialect, of course, but it's roughly the same tongue.

In the EU, you can change languages several time in a simple train ride.

That said, we now have so many imported nationalities it's getting difficult. . . .

 

[JKendallDane]

I understand, but at least it is nominally the same language.
Different stresses, strains and dialect, of course, but it's roughly the same tongue.

In the EU, you can change languages several time in a simple train ride.

That said, we now have so many imported nationalities it's getting difficult. . . .

That you can take to the bank.

The 2002 European jaunt started in Budapest and for the next 18 days included more kilometers of ridin' the rails than I ever dreamed I would get to do. Over to Vienna. Up to Berlin. On to Copenhagen via the ferry across the Baltic then back on Eurail. Day trip to Malmo. Swing over to Odense. Drop down to Hamburg. And finally hit Amsterdam. Thank God for those semi private compartments...and a half dozen Berlitz phrase books.

I think by the end of the trip I could say 'thank you' and ask 'where's the bathroom?' and 'how much?' in nearly every language on the continent.

.

 

[Handley_Page]

I was once stationed at an RAF Base not far from the Dutch border.
My most-used book was a English-Dutch dictionary.
And Dutch is a language which lives in the throat. . .

 

[JKendallDane]

I was once stationed at an RAF Base not far from the Dutch border.
My most-used book was a English-Dutch dictionary.
And Dutch is a language which lives in the throat. . .

I can deal with Dutch...it was trying to learn even just the basics of Hungarian that drove me nuts. And when I was there, the Americanization of them being bilingual with English in order to handle tourists hadn't hit yet. Even the hotels were limited on who could speak anything but Hungarian.

My most used book was English-German. Carried on an entire two hour conversation at a youth hostel in Switzerland in 1971 with two guys from Germany by just handing it back and forth, looking up words, and pointing at them for each other. A really fun memory.

In a similar light, I just picked up a small collection of military pocket guides at an estate sale. WW2 French and German phrase books that are labeled "Restricted" on the covers, a WW2 "Short Guide to Great Britain" from the War Department, and a 1962 "Pocket Guide to Viet-Nam" that reads more like a travel brochure than anything involving war.

 

[SamScribble]

I can deal with Dutch...it was trying to learn even just the basics of Hungarian that drove me nuts. And when I was there, the Americanization of them being bilingual with English in order to handle tourists hadn't hit yet. Even the hotels were limited on who could speak anything but Hungarian.

My most used book was English-German. Carried on an entire two hour conversation at a youth hostel in Switzerland in 1971 with two guys from Germany by just handing it back and forth, looking up words, and pointing at them for each other. A really fun memory.

In a similar light, I just picked up a small collection of military pocket guides at an estate sale. WW2 French and German phrase books that are labeled "Restricted" on the covers, a WW2 "Short Guide to Great Britain" from the War Department, and a 1962 "Pocket Guide to Viet-Nam" that reads more like a travel brochure than anything involving war.

Gentlemen, please. Just speak your English slowly and clearly. All of those foreign Johnnies understand English really. Well, except for the Italians. But then I like the Italians. And I like their language. I even find myself using it in France - much to the bewilderment of the French.

 

[Handley_Page]

My most used book was English-German. Carried on an entire two hour conversation at a youth hostel in Switzerland in 1971 with two guys from Germany by just handing it back and forth, looking up words, and pointing at them for each other. A really fun memory.

In a similar light, I just picked up a small collection of military pocket guides at an estate sale. WW2 French and German phrase books that are labeled "Restricted" on the covers, a WW2 "Short Guide to Great Britain" from the War Department, and a 1962 "Pocket Guide to Viet-Nam" that reads more like a travel brochure than anything involving war.

I recall having conversations like that in Amsterdam.
I'd like the WW2 book on England.

Gentlemen, please. Just speak your English slowly and clearly. All of those foreign Johnnies understand English really. Well, except for the Italians. But then I like the Italians. And I like their language. I even find myself using it in France - much to the bewilderment of the French.

The French tend to be somewhat Xenophobic as far as I recall.
Any non-French language confuses the hell out of 'em!

 

[JKendallDane]

I recall having conversations like that in Amsterdam.
I'd like the WW2 book on England.

I had planned to toss them all up on eBay sometime later this year, but would be willing to work out something for you. Pop me a PM if you want to discuss it.

The French tend to be somewhat Xenophobic as far as I recall.
Any non-French language confuses the hell out of 'em!

In my experiences, the French have a real talent for making even the ugliest American look like Mary Poppins. With the exception of Versailles and the Louvre, I have no desire to ever set foot in the country again.

One of my most interesting language "situations" occurred in San Juan back in the early 1990's. I was there for ten days with a friend that was born and raised in PR and still had most of her family there. We were staying with her mom out in one of the outlying neighborhoods and using taxis anytime we wanted to go downtown or out to the beach. I had been warned to watch the drivers as they had a real rep for screwing over tourists and playing the 'No habla English' game. I grabbed a cab one morning and simply told the driver, "Condado por favor," meaning take me to the beach district.

After watching him start meandering around and running up the meter for about ten minutes, I leaned over the front seat and told him, "I know the fare to Condado is no more than $12...you are getting $15 from me whether the meter reads $10, $12, or $15. Your choice." Then in my best high school Spanish I added, "Comprende, mi amigo?"

Suddenly he seemed to remember he understood English and knew a short cut.

 

[Handley_Page]

"I know the fare to Condado is no more than $12...you are getting $15 from me whether the meter reads $10, $12, or $15. Your choice." Then in my best high school Spanish I added, "Comprende, mi amigo?"

Nice one!

 

[SamScribble]

"I know the fare to Condado is no more than $12...you are getting $15 from me whether the meter reads $10, $12, or $15. Your choice." Then in my best high school Spanish I added, "Comprende, mi amigo?"

Nice one!

OK. Own up. Who has ever found the opportunity to slip 'la plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle' into a conversation with a French citizen?

 

[JKendallDane]

OK. Own up. Who has ever found the opportunity to slip 'la plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle' into a conversation with a French citizen?

I did a translation using Babel. Your aunt, uncle, and a pen on a desk? Sounds like something pilot would write for the incest category.

 

[CharleneBarr]

OK. Own up. Who has ever found the opportunity to slip 'la plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle' into a conversation with a French citizen?

OK, well there is this -

Though we searched every nook of le room
and strip-searched her as far as la womb,
she didn't complain,
even said,"Come again,"
but, ou est de ma tante la plume?

 

[SamScribble]

OK, well there is this -

Though we searched every nook of le room
and strip-searched her as far as la womb,
she didn't complain,
even said,"Come again,"
but, ou est de ma tante la plume?

Actually, I think it's 'ou est la plume de ma tante'. But, either way, the answer is 'sur le bureau'.

 

[Handley_Page]

Actually, I think it's 'ou est la plume de ma tante'. But, either way, the answer is 'sur le bureau'.

"Tante; ou et votre plume?"

 

[SamScribble]

"Tante; ou et votre plume?"

Sorry, it's still sur le bureau, HP. Or at least it was last time I saw it.

And I'm definitely not your aunt.

 

[Apple_of_Eden]

I did a translation using Babel. Your aunt, uncle, and a pen on a desk? Sounds like something pilot would write for the incest category.

Actually, I see it more in the Humor category~!
Protagonist could easily be a version of Hercule Poirot.

 

[Handley_Page]

Actually, I see it more in the Humor category~!
Protagonist could easily be a version of Hercule Poirot.

There's a wonderful little bit in one of the TV shows;
an irascible servant enters the room and announces "Mr Hercules Parrot, Sir".

There was barely a flicker on the mouths of the actors.

 

[JKendallDane]

There's a wonderful little bit in one of the TV shows;
an irascible servant enters the room and announces "Mr Hercules Parrot, Sir".

There was barely a flicker on the mouths of the actors.

The British comedies always were the best! Will never forget this one!

Mrs. Slocombe's pussy



.

 

[Handley_Page]

The British comedies always were the best! Will never forget this one!

Mrs. Slocombe's pussy



.

Loved it!

 

[loquere]

Loved it!

Cinnabon

 

[JKendallDane]

Cinnabon

This place has THE BEST true European bakery items in the United States.

Colozza's Bakery ~ Parma, Ohio

Just look at the pictures on that page link and you will gain five pounds!

.

 

[SamScribble]

This place has THE BEST true European bakery items in the United States.

Colozza's Bakery ~ Parma, Ohio

Just look at the pictures on that page link and you will gain five pounds!

.

I was heartened to discover just the other day that one of my favourite chefs, a man who has built an impressive career on finding the finest quality natural ingredients and not messing them up, has a personal weakness for fresh cream buns: fluffy, bready buns absolutely stuffed with slightly-sweetened vanilla-flavoured whipped cream.