Comments on: Dam advertising Dunglish

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:03:07 +0000

I know we’re a few months later, but I am watching oakland at the yankees as I type, and during the commercial break I saw this add on TV! Pretty weird to hear “Dames en heren, we gaan beginnen!!!!” when you least expect it.

By: sishinakajima

sishinakajima — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:35:19 +0000

actually, the dutch drink pils or pilsener, but they call it beer. Since it’s not the same real beer as in the US, Japan or anyplace in the world, as for the inventors of the “bier” isn’t that ironic?

By: LarryE

LarryE — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:03:15 +0000

Other than a few words which have come into English from Dutch, such as yacht and skipper, I speak almost no Dutch and so would appear to be more a member of the intended audience for the ad than any speakers of the language.

It struck me as just another beer ad trying to be clever by being, as someone said above, made to sound somehow “European.” Which is nothing new; after all, Häagen-Dazs ice cream, the name of which was made up for exactly that purpose, has been around for nearly 50 years. At least in this case the product really is European.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:43:48 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever used it myself, but I don’t see anything inherently wrong with ‘gauw tot ziens’. I suspect some people are objecting because it’s not part of their idiom and their additional justification is:

1. ‘tot ziens’ generally implies wanting to see the other person soon, so ‘gauw’ is unnecessary
2. ‘tot gauw’ exists in their idiom, as does ‘tot ziens’, therefore ‘tot gauw’ must be a contaminated form

‘Gauw tot ziens’ gets 3300 Google hits, of which 1500 are on .nl sites. Some of them seem to be from native speakers, others are lists of Dutch phrases and still others are people objecting to the phrase …

By: Mr. M

Mr. M — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:18:23 +0000

Hello Edith,

I am Dutch too. Can you perhaps explain why “gauw tot ziens” is faulty Dutch?

Compare:
- Graag tot ziens
- Snel tot ziens
- Gauw tot ziens

Not all of these forms are commonly used, however all are correct Dutch in my opinion.

By: Edith

Edith — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:41:54 +0000

@ Mark,

You are Dutch, but you don’t recognize faulty Dutch? (’gauw tot ziens’)

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:27:22 +0000

Mark: “the usage of dutch in the end is fine.”

“Gauw tot ziens”?? I’ve never heard someone use that expression and I’ve been dutch for quite a while
“Tot ziens” and “tot gauw” are commonly used, but not that “Gauw tot ziens” contraption…

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:54:19 +0000

It’s obviously been done on purpose, the usage of dutch in the end is fine. I am dutch and therefore would know. Secondly, the usage of the dutch line at the end, indicates this advert might actually be meant to be spelt wrong just to make the world play work.

By: ludolph

ludolph — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:38:53 +0000

Die stompzinnige dam/damn woordspeling werd ook al eens gebruikt in de titel van een Nederlandse speelfilm, Amsterdamned. Destijds voldoende reden voor mij om die film ongezien als derderangs te kwalificeren. Het doet denken aan een scholier die een beetje Engels geleerd heeft en op zijn vriendjes indruk wil maken door zijn Nederlands te doorspekken met stoere Amerikaanse cowboywoorden.

By: mare

mare — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:07:32 +0000

My New York friends of course knew this slogant was wordplay and made to sound “European” but they also had associations with dental dams (”beflapjes”) and biers (”lijkbaren”).

Both are most often associated with disease and death, not with something you are supposed to drink.