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Stewart
Darth Vader
Offline
German is a relatively easy language. For anyone who knows Latin and is
used to declensions, German doesn’t present any particular difficulties.
That’s what teachers of German say in the first class, but then they start
with der, die, das, den and the rest of it, claiming that everything after
that will be logical. This we’ll demonstrate with the following example.
First we need an appropriate book in German. So here we have a
beautiful book, in a splendid cloth binding, published in Dortmund, about
the customs of the Hottentots (Hottentotten).
The book tells about how kangaroos (Beutelraten) are caught and put in
cages (Kotter), which are then covered with a cloth (Lattengitter) to
protect them from the weather. In German, these cages are called
“cages covered with cloth” (Lattenngitterkotter), and when there are
kangaroos inside them, they are Beutelratenlattengitterkotter. One day
the Hottentots catch a murderer (Attentater) who is accused of killing a
mother (Mutter) who is also a Hottentot (so Hottentottermutter), the
mother of a dim-witted and stuttering child (Stottertrottel). So, in
German, this mother is a Hottentottenstottertrottelmutter and the man
who killed her is, of course, a Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterattentater.
As a temporary measure, they throw the captive into a kangaroo cage
(Beutelratenlattengitterkotter), from which he quickly escapes. Everyone
immediately sets out on a search for him until one Hottentot warrior
shouts triumphantly:
“I caught the killer (Attentater)
“What? Who? asks the chief.
“The Lattengitterkotterbeutelratenattentater!!!” he replies.
“What? The killer from the kangaroo cage covered with cloth?” asks the
chief.
“Yes! He’s a Hottenstottertrottelmutterattentater!” (A killer of the
mother of a dim-witted and stuttering child), replies the warrior.
“For God’s sake,” said the chief, “Why didn’t you tell me straight away
you’d caught the <span style="font-weight: bold">Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterlattengitterkotterbautelratenattentater!!!”</span>
You see? German is very easy. You just need to be interested.
used to declensions, German doesn’t present any particular difficulties.
That’s what teachers of German say in the first class, but then they start
with der, die, das, den and the rest of it, claiming that everything after
that will be logical. This we’ll demonstrate with the following example.
First we need an appropriate book in German. So here we have a
beautiful book, in a splendid cloth binding, published in Dortmund, about
the customs of the Hottentots (Hottentotten).
The book tells about how kangaroos (Beutelraten) are caught and put in
cages (Kotter), which are then covered with a cloth (Lattengitter) to
protect them from the weather. In German, these cages are called
“cages covered with cloth” (Lattenngitterkotter), and when there are
kangaroos inside them, they are Beutelratenlattengitterkotter. One day
the Hottentots catch a murderer (Attentater) who is accused of killing a
mother (Mutter) who is also a Hottentot (so Hottentottermutter), the
mother of a dim-witted and stuttering child (Stottertrottel). So, in
German, this mother is a Hottentottenstottertrottelmutter and the man
who killed her is, of course, a Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterattentater.
As a temporary measure, they throw the captive into a kangaroo cage
(Beutelratenlattengitterkotter), from which he quickly escapes. Everyone
immediately sets out on a search for him until one Hottentot warrior
shouts triumphantly:
“I caught the killer (Attentater)
“What? Who? asks the chief.
“The Lattengitterkotterbeutelratenattentater!!!” he replies.
“What? The killer from the kangaroo cage covered with cloth?” asks the
chief.
“Yes! He’s a Hottenstottertrottelmutterattentater!” (A killer of the
mother of a dim-witted and stuttering child), replies the warrior.
“For God’s sake,” said the chief, “Why didn’t you tell me straight away
you’d caught the <span style="font-weight: bold">Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterlattengitterkotterbautelratenattentater!!!”</span>
You see? German is very easy. You just need to be interested.
