On the 45th anniversary of JFK's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, Ray ponders the persistent assertion that Kennedy used incorrect grammer -- that while he meant to say: "I am a Berliner," he actually said: "I am a jelly donut." Can somebody please clear this up?
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7 comments:
Actually a Berliner is a type of wurst ( hot dog )
I have been told
Imagine though if W had even tried to make a speech like that
The Urban Legends site says it's an urban legend.
Wikipedia says it's an urban legend.
The chairman of the German department at Princeton University, as interviewed by The New York Times, gives the most nuanced response, but ultimately asserts that Kennedy did not commit a "howler" with his utterance.
Right on Greg.
JFK may have made a grammatical mistake in a foriegn language, but the message was clear to the Germans.
Now if W could only figure out the english language.
Wasn't Pat LaMarche great today?
Ray,
I was taught in college German class that the correct way to state "I am a Berliner" in German is to say: "Ich bin Berliner" (without the article "ein" which is German for "a.")
The reason is that in conversational German, they usually leave out the article. When one said "Ich bin ein Berliner," most Germans understood "ein Berliner" to be a jellied donut and not a resident of Berlin. A resident of Berlin was understood to be a "Berliner" (without the ein) and not "ein Berliner."
Urban Legends and Wikipedia are both wrong, and the Princeton egghead German professor is correct.
Germans were probably impressed that Kennedy gave it a shot and came close. Americans are horrible at traveling abroad and not knowing even a word of the native language. People who travel to America are usually proficient in English, with the notable exception of Spanish-speaking only Latin Americans.
The "Princeton egghead German professor" notes that several German speakers he spoke to claim that Kennedy was correct when he included the "ein" because he himself was not a native Berliner, and that was a way of acknowledging his outsider status, even as he declared solidarity.
I can't find a contemporary reference (from the '60s) in which anyone makes the jelly donut claim. This seems to be something that popped up years later.
Hold the presses
Looks like Belgian Draft horses will be replacing the Clysedales in that flag kneeling skit.
Suppose NASCAR fans will be drinking Stella Artois/
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