Open to many things
Taken from a shop in Ghent, Belgium, this sign reads like one of those exam questions where you need to spot all the mistakes to get full marks. I especially like “thuesday” and the fact that it did not deserve a capital letter.
(Photo: Jasper)
March 4th, 2005 at 8:53 pm
De mooiste dingen zie je natuurlijk niet, die hoor je. Zoals het bakkersmeisje dat een Amerikaanse toerist met stomheid sloeg door op zijn vraag hoe hij in Amsterdam-Noord kwam te beantwoorden met een brede armzwaai en een gesnerpt: ‘You have to take the pound after Central Station!’
March 7th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
If they used Microsoft Word to make the sign, “thuesday” is not capitalized because it is mispelled. Word automatically capitalizes the days of the week in English, but only if you spell them right.
March 7th, 2005 at 9:49 pm
I beg to differ. My Word spellchecker tells me to change “thuesday” into Thursday even with “thuesday” in the middle of a sentence. Maybe Word for Mac is better (I doubt it) or my Canadian version of Word is smarter 🙂
March 9th, 2005 at 3:14 pm
>> If they used Microsoft Word to make the sign, “thuesday†is not capitalized because it is mispelled. << Yeah--but that happens only when you use that very posh version of Word that comes equipped with a pellchecker. 😉
March 9th, 2005 at 3:16 pm
(the quote went through but the comment didn’t–lemme try again)
Yeah–but only if you’re lucky enough to own one of those posh Word versions that come equipped with a pellchecker. 😉
March 9th, 2005 at 4:32 pm
Yes, but the spellchecker and AutoCorrect are two different functions. If I were regularly writing in both Dutch and English, I would probably turn the spellchecker off, because it would be easier than switching dictionaries all the time. But most people never get around to turning off AutoCorrect, because it’s such a pain the way MS has set it up.
BTW: Great site. I think the unique character of Dunglish (as compared to, say, Engrish) results from English and Dutch being so closely related. I’ve never studied Dutch, but I’ve found that when I hear spoken Dutch, if I just relax and let it wash over me, I can understand 50 – 60 percent. I imagine it’s similar if you’re a native Dutch speaker. (And on the very few times I’ve heard spoken Frisian, well, that’s just wild.)
March 9th, 2005 at 9:21 pm
Watch out, Gent is discribed without a h.
March 9th, 2005 at 11:58 pm
Nope, in English, it’s Ghent. Even the city itself writes it this way on their site: http://www.gent.be/gent/english/