Slip of the slip
Let’s learn about Dutch culture or let’s check what I’ve learnt. I heard Dutch comedian Howard Komproe said on telly once that one of the main ingredients of Dutch comedy was taking pleasure in other people’s misery, called ‘leedvermaak’ in Dutch. And then, there’s this Flemish girl group called K3 that is one of the biggest selling Dutch-language groups ever, known for their merchandising. And last but not least, there’s a big difference between ‘sweet’ and ‘sweat’. ‘Sweat dreams’ is not child-friendly, but it is funny. And then there’s judging a website by its PHP, requiring that you code switch while shopping.
(Link: Scrubs)
January 22nd, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Of course, the proper English for “leedvermaak” is “schadenfreude” 🙂
January 23rd, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Memories of trying to convince Dutch relatives that ‘sweater’ does not rhyme with ‘heater’, nor ‘pony’ with ‘Ronnie’ …
January 26th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Larry:
“[…] that ’sweater’ does not rhyme with ‘heater’, nor ‘pony’ with ‘Ronnie’ …”
Ah, but that’s how English spelling and pronunciation can fool you. Check this out:
http://www.mipmip.dsl.pipex.com/tidbits/pronunciation.shtml
January 26th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
It took me ages to pronounce “erwten” properly 🙂
February 6th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
“It took me ages to pronounce “erwten†properly”
The ‘n’ is silent? 😛 (‘Er-tuh)
February 19th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
In a month time nobody notices that pyama should be pyjama! (3 X!)