I am a doughnut! (English/German)
Not my own, but the classic language slip-up of all time was made by John F Kennedy when he was in Berlin - trying to show solidarity with the people of Berlin and Germany he pointed out that ... he was a small round doughnut! Ich bin Berliner means 'I am from Berlin' but if one says Ich bin ein Berliner, this means 'I am a Berliner' where a Berliner is a small cake/doughnut, popular in German bakeries.
Sent by: Matt
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One day one of our German exchange students asked our Biology/Math teacher for a 'rubber'. This is an American slang term for a condom. The teacher had no idea what to do. As it was later discussed with the German teacher, he was asking for an eraser or das Radiergummi.
Who cares? it's a funny story so get laughing not analysing. Shame he didn't do a tour. we could have heard "I'm a Hamburger" or "I'm a Frankfurter" as well.
A German friend has told us exactly the same as Anja. He said it would be incorrect to say Ich bin Berliner if you're not from Berlin, but merely wish to show solidarity.
Having been born and grown up in Berlin myself, I can assure Matt that no Berlin citizen would have misunderstood Kennedy in the way he suspects - in Berlin, the doughnuts he refers to are actually called Pfannkuchen. Most confusing to foreigners, and sometimes to Germans themselves, is the fact that in the rest of Germany, a Pfannkuchen is what in Berlin is called Eierkuchen - a pancake consisting mainly of eggs.
Although a "Berliner" is also a type of jelly doughnut, in the context used by JFK it could not have been misunderstood any more than if I told you "I am a danish" in English. Of course, you'd think I was crazy, but you wouldn't think I was claiming to be a citizen of Denmark (¶Ùä²Ô±ð³¾²¹°ù°ì).
Here is Kennedy's full statement: All free men, wherever they live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, Ich bin ein Berliner.
Part of the problem here stems from the fact that in statements of nationality or citizenship, German often leaves off the ein. But in Kennedy's statement, the ein was correct and expressed that he was "one" of them. Over the years there have been translation or interpreting errors with U.S. public officials abroad, but this isn't one of them.
John F. Kennedy's blunder about being a Berliner (a jelly doughnut in Germany) is not as straightforward as it sounds. In the rest of Germany a Berliner is a jelly doughnut ... but not in Berlin! I lived in Berlin, and in Berlin a jelly doughnut is called a Pfannkuchen. What makes this more confusing is that a Pfannkuchen is a pancake in the rest of Germany! So to a Berliner's ear he did not say that he was a jelly doughnut after all ... but his grammar was not perfect either.
It could have been worse if Kennedy had said in German that he was from Paris: Ich bin ein Pariser, I am a Parisian, which in Germany is a slang word for 'condom'.
The British and Americans are divided by one common language. What the British call "rubber" is an "eraser" in America. Germans learn British English at school which explains the gaffe.
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