Pleading guilty
A picture can really be worth a thousand words. If this had been taken in an Anglo-Saxon country, you’d just think an illiterate drop-out wrote it. Knowing this was taken somewhere around Amsterdam, it’s just sad to see that whoever wrote this couldn’t even be bothered with using their native language. Yes, I’m speculating. The sequence of vowels ‘ae’ is ironically found in the names of Dutch streets that have very expensive houses, as it is old Dutch spelling.
(Photo: Yuri)
August 28th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
A graffiti artist’s blatant attempt to get onto Dunglish.nl!
August 28th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Maybe it’s “Danglish”, and should it actually be “plæse!”.
😛
August 28th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
Perhaps a few extra letters could turn it into interesting Middle Dutch graffiti?
August 30th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Plaeding guilty? This shot is taken in Haarlem, not in Amsterdam 🙂
August 30th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
OK, Haarlem is not somewhere around Amsterdam 🙂 I sit corrected.
August 31st, 2006 at 3:55 pm
Hm, shouldn’t that be ‘Haerlem’, then? 😉
August 31st, 2006 at 4:08 pm
It should Aemstaerdaem 🙂
September 1st, 2006 at 1:30 pm
The ‘ae’ spelling used to be found in expensive neighbourhoods. Project developers have since picked up on the ‘expensive’ connotation, and have used it to invent new names for done-up office buildings. A lick of cheap paint, change the name to something-staete (estate) and there must be buyers/renters out there…
October 6th, 2006 at 6:56 pm
I’m enjoying all of the comments about mistakes/faux pas made on signs…makes me think of the American penchant for choosing “fancy-sounding” names for ordinary things, like “executive homes” for big houses. They can get more money for “executive homes” than for a plain old two-story house 🙂 And regarding learning decent English, I admire anyone from non-English speaking countries who can learn any of it–it can’t be an easy thing to do!