Dunglish idiom on telly
It’s a funny, well made advert, but yeah, it’s too bad for the English idiom.
English Rocker: Is it alright like this?
Dutch temp guy: For this time, I’ll see it through the fingers, eh.
I’m not sure if they used Dunglish on purpose, but my gut says they did, probably because although it’s mostly in English, it is aimed at a Dutch audience. And English is the language of the elite, not the help. But the roles are reversed, yada yada yada.
Tags: advertising, Tempo Team
March 7th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I too thought the same thing when I saw this commercial for the first time. In fact, I noticed the literal translation from Dutch to English and pointed this out to my Dutch husband. He didn’t seem to notice.
March 8th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Is that lady in the Tempo Team video speaking regular Dutch? She talks so fast. Is it something like Yes, I have someone here that is good at room training?
begraght
March 8th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
“I’ll see it through the fingers” is klassiek nep-engels in Nederland, vergelijkbaar met “go your gang” en “allez votre corridor”. Wordt meestal expres fout gedaan, voor de grap.
De Dutch temp guy zei overigens: for this time we’ll see it through the fingers he. Niet het engelse eh maar het oerhollandse hè.
March 8th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Dat hè van die uitzendkracht is er met opzet ingestopt denk ik, want het typeert het gesproken Dunglish. Een Canadese als Natashka valt het misschien niet zo op, eh? 🙂
March 9th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
1) Ik ben Frans Canadees, dus geen ‘eh’ te bekenen.
2) Contrary to popular belief, alleen sommige mensen dat zeggen. Zo’n kaas-klompen-verhaal is dat 😉
May 5th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Of course it is on purpose. It has to be clear that this is a guy hired by tempo team while the rock stars are not.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I do think it is on purpose. My husband thinks otherwise though… The discussion here continues 😀
June 4th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Considering the way in which the temp guy speaks, I’d say it was done on purpose. Even to (my) Dutch ears, the his accent sounds very, very ‘local’.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Heh, this was most definitely done on purpose, just poking a bit of fun at our own Dunglish.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Yes, this was most definitely done on purpose, just poking a bit of fun at our own Dunglish.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I cannot believe you’re even discussing this; of course this is done on purpose!!
July 13th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I hope they ban all english in the Netherlands. We have our own language. No need for the english language.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I agree that in most commercials, the use of English is unnecessary and stupid. This commercial, however, wouldn’t work in Dutch. The joke is that Tempo Team has sent a real professional who can even make a bunch of famous rockstars clean up their room. Famous rockstars don’t speak Dutch (I’m not saying we don’t have any good bands in the Netherlands, but they generally do not display the typical ‘rockstar behaviour’ such as trashing up hotel rooms) so the Tempo Team guy has to speak English. And of course the Dunglish was on purpose! I’m not sure it was a good idea, though. I think hotels would rather hire staff who speak proper English.
September 14th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Natuurlijk is dit expres gedaan!
It’s clear!
That was all this joke was about, the Dunglish in it!