8 Responses to “State of the Race”

1. Dave In Pgh Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 6:24 am

   Exactly. Why waste words?

2. Chuck Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 9:20 am

   I was surprised to see a cartoon in todays St Paul paper…shows BHO in Berlin saying “I am a beginner” ( the first part was in Kennedys German, but I can’t remember how to spell it).

3. Bill C Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 9:55 am

   Berlinner – Approximate German for “jelly filled pastry”

   Hence the joke “I am a jelly donut”.

4. Bill C Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 10:00 am

   Ok, a little further Wikiing produces this:

   According to an urban legend, Kennedy allegedly made an embarrassing grammatical error by saying “Ich bin ein Berliner,” referring to himself not as a citizen of Berlin, but as a common pastry[3]:

   Kennedy should have said “Ich bin Berliner” to mean “I am a person from Berlin.” By adding the indefinite article ein, his statement implied he was a non-human Berliner, thus “I am a jelly doughnut”.

   The legend seems to stem from a play on words with Berliner, the name of a doughnut variant filled with jam or plum sauce that is thought to have originated in Berlin.

   In fact, Kennedy’s statement is both grammatically correct[4] and perfectly idiomatic, and cannot be misunderstood in context. The urban legend is not widely known within Germany, where Kennedy’s speech is considered a landmark in the country’s postwar history.[5] The indefinite article ein can be and often is omitted when speaking of an individual’s profession or residence but is necessary when speaking in a figurative sense as Kennedy did. Since the president was not literally from Berlin but only declaring his solidarity with its citizens, “Ich bin Berliner” would not have been correct.[6]

5. swiftee Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 10:31 am

   I bet Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dorn got an autographed copy from Hussein Osama, suitable for framing.

6. jpmn Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 11:35 am

   http://www.nicedoggie.net/2008/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/obamabus.jpg

7. Mitch Berg Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

   In fact, Kennedy’s statement is both grammatically correct[4] and perfectly idiomatic, and cannot be misunderstood in context.

   That’s one urban legend for which I (a German minor in college) have very little patience.

   Another one – the idea that the Chevy Nova sold poorly in Mexico because “No Va” means “Doens’t Go”. Of course, that’s true – but the word “Nova” in Spanish also means “distant, exploding star”, pretty much as it does in English.

8. JRoosh Says:
   July 17th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

   Just like “As Shat” is another tense…

   “I Sh*t”

   “I have Shat”

   “As Shat by…”

   …and is also a term used to describe Democrats in MOB blogs: Asshat.

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