HOW DO YOU SAY…
Another of the stupid things in this world that entertains me is works that are integral to a culture in translation to a foreign language. For instance, I recently came across a fantastic translation of Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" in German. The chorus in German is:
Oooh baby, ich mag es roh
Ja baby, ich mag es roh
Oooh baby, ich mag es roh
Ja baby, ich mag es roh.
Similarly, today is the 140th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. While we are really not positive what he said (he had no finished version of the speech written, and obviously nobody was able to record it), we do have an accepted version. It is incredible. It really is a foundational speech in the history of America, and could be used as the complete explanation for the Civil War. It is a part of our culture. Hence, it is strange to see in other tongues. The part that EVERYONE knows is "four score and seven years ago." How does it feel in these other incarnations.
English: Four score and seven years ago…
German: Dreizehn Jahre noch und es wird ein Jahrhundert vergangen sein . . .
Dutch: Vier maal twintig en zeven jaar geleden . . .
Italian: Or sono diciassette lustri e un anno . . .
Doesn't really flow, does it? To see the Gettysburg Address in other languages, including Russian, Korean, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, and others, check out the link.
WELL, ST PETER, IT SEEMED LIKE A USEFUL THING AT THE TIME…
The Nation's Finest News Source (dba The Houston Chronicle) has been letting me down lately. They have really been full of what might be called "actual news." Happily, they found someone to talk about the silliest of things—the history of the golf tee.
It turns out that while hundreds of articles were patented around the world for teeing up a golf ball, the first "wooden peg" (at least by U.S. patent office definition) was registered in 1924 to Dr. William Lowell, a New Jersey dentist. It turns out that there have been no significant, material changes in tees since then! Thankfully, that didn't keep the Chronicle from devoting several paragraphs to describing tees.
Another of the stupid things in this world that entertains me is works that are integral to a culture in translation to a foreign language. For instance, I recently came across a fantastic translation of Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" in German. The chorus in German is:
Oooh baby, ich mag es roh
Ja baby, ich mag es roh
Oooh baby, ich mag es roh
Ja baby, ich mag es roh.
Similarly, today is the 140th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. While we are really not positive what he said (he had no finished version of the speech written, and obviously nobody was able to record it), we do have an accepted version. It is incredible. It really is a foundational speech in the history of America, and could be used as the complete explanation for the Civil War. It is a part of our culture. Hence, it is strange to see in other tongues. The part that EVERYONE knows is "four score and seven years ago." How does it feel in these other incarnations.
English: Four score and seven years ago…
German: Dreizehn Jahre noch und es wird ein Jahrhundert vergangen sein . . .
Dutch: Vier maal twintig en zeven jaar geleden . . .
Italian: Or sono diciassette lustri e un anno . . .
Doesn't really flow, does it? To see the Gettysburg Address in other languages, including Russian, Korean, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, and others, check out the link.
WELL, ST PETER, IT SEEMED LIKE A USEFUL THING AT THE TIME…
The Nation's Finest News Source (dba The Houston Chronicle) has been letting me down lately. They have really been full of what might be called "actual news." Happily, they found someone to talk about the silliest of things—the history of the golf tee.
It turns out that while hundreds of articles were patented around the world for teeing up a golf ball, the first "wooden peg" (at least by U.S. patent office definition) was registered in 1924 to Dr. William Lowell, a New Jersey dentist. It turns out that there have been no significant, material changes in tees since then! Thankfully, that didn't keep the Chronicle from devoting several paragraphs to describing tees.
posted by David at 12:48 PM
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