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Subject:Re: Re[2]: The Kennedy Faux Pas [Ref:C189850] From:Susan Brown <sbrown -at- JSCSYS -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 9 May 1997 12:48:15 -0500
At 04:08 PM 5/9/97 +0100, you wrote:
>
>In the nearly two years that I lived in Berlin, one would hear both the
>colloquial (Ich bin Berliner/Berlinerin) AND the formally correct (Ich bin ein
>Berliner/eine Berlinerin). Which is to say: "Ich bin ein Berliner" makes
>perfectly good German sense (regardless of how it relates to jelly or condoms).
I've heard a couple of takes on this, both revolving around the fact
that Berliners tend to be the butt of jokes in Germany (much like the
Newfies in Canada, or the old Polish jokes that were rampant in the late
60's early 70's). Another slang eptithet for idiot was 'donut' (the German
equivalent thereof). The theory was that the slang 'Berliner' for donut (or
jellyroll, or what ever) derived from these slang usages. Sort of never
ending cycle.
Susan Brown
JSC Systems Corp.
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