One of my best friends in high school was a German foreign exchange student and when ever we saw him in the halls we would throw the "gang" sign that the "German" scientist does in the VW ads. He totally loved it.
Also, I remember at one time my friends wanted him to say something angrily in German (I didn't care either way, my dad mutters in German when he gets angry) and all he would say was "Volkswagen!" He made it sound intense too : )
Heh, "Farfegnugen" looks like something they might sell at IKEA. It's "Fahrvergnügen" originally: "fahren" = to drive; "Vergnügen" = pleasure - so: "Fahrvergnügen" = pleasure in driving.
I wonder if they anticipated the "Fuckingrooving" thing, which sounds a lot cooler. Here in Germany, many companies have commercials with pseudo-"English" in them. Often, it's neither correct English, nor does a large part of the German citizens actually understand what is meant. I've seen surveys that had the most amazing mis-interpretations you could imagine.
Oh yes, that's probably the best example. According to German wiki, it's not clear where exactly the term came from; apparently, one of the first mobile phones was called "HandyTel", so they might just have gone on from there. Most Germans don't even know that if they talk about their "Handy" to native speakers, they will likely only receive a puzzled response. The problem is that the "correct" German name would be "Mobiltelefon", which is far too long for everyday use. So "Handy" it is.
I think most people here, even the ones who voted for W., know the joke is the cliches themselves though. I'd love to see similarly-spirited cliches of Americans made by Germans if anyone knows of any. I always get a kick out of British ones. Loud, fat, obnoxious and clueless tourists for example.
One could certainly argue that any tourist from a 'Western' country has it in them to be loud, fat and obnoxious. I hardly would say it is unique to Americans. Now the shorts and white sock thing... :p
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I think the only genuine Germans were the ones in the Ford commercial...
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Also, I remember at one time my friends wanted him to say something angrily in German (I didn't care either way, my dad mutters in German when he gets angry) and all he would say was "Volkswagen!" He made it sound intense too : )
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that makes me totally roll on the floor every time i see it. *grin*
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I love the Daily Show
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=88173&title=wasser-fun-park
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I wonder if they anticipated the "Fuckingrooving" thing, which sounds a lot cooler. Here in Germany, many companies have commercials with pseudo-"English" in them. Often, it's neither correct English, nor does a large part of the German citizens actually understand what is meant. I've seen surveys that had the most amazing mis-interpretations you could imagine.
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It's all accurate, right? Right?
I think most people here, even the ones who voted for W., know the joke is the cliches themselves though. I'd love to see similarly-spirited cliches of Americans made by Germans if anyone knows of any. I always get a kick out of British ones. Loud, fat, obnoxious and clueless tourists for example.
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