Comments on Wife in the North: Living and learning

bloody brilliant!

2007-05-07T22:23:00.000+01:00

bloody brilliant!

Have you learnt: "I love Angela," yet?

2007-05-06T17:05:00.000+01:00

Have you learnt: "I love Angela," yet?

If one is an "anonymous(e)", I would guess the plu...

2007-05-02T22:26:00.000+01:00

If one is an "anonymous(e)", I would guess the plural might be "anonymice"!mklhtu

If it's true that WITN is going to be made into a ...

2007-05-01T19:27:00.000+01:00

If it's true that WITN is going to be made into a film, who will play the parts of the various "anonymuses" (anonymi?).

Wifey when you get to classifcation of insects, I ...

2007-05-01T12:40:00.000+01:00

Wifey when you get to classifcation of insects, I really would like to know if 'Papahinckelschtien' is Daddy Long Legs in German.

I have knowlingly and confidently told my children this fact in their tender years, now I doubt myself.

A bit like when my Mother told me she was 21, of course, I beleived her and a girl at school called me the biggest liar - which of course I was - unknowingly.

Er, Mike...STEAK and chips????I'm a vegetarian.

2007-05-01T12:04:00.000+01:00

Er, Mike...
STEAK and chips????
I'm a vegetarian.

Is it true that a deal has been signed to convert ...

2007-05-01T10:58:00.000+01:00

Is it true that a deal has been signed to convert 'Wife in the North' into a film ? There is a rumour that Rupert Everett has been approached to play the role of your husband, and he has cleared his diary for the autumn for when the screenplay has 'adapted' and filming is due to commence.

Asking for a glass of bitter in German would seem ...

2007-05-01T00:30:00.000+01:00

Asking for a glass of bitter in German would seem fraught with problems...

Oh Norman, for God's sake,relax and drink whatever...

2007-05-01T00:04:00.000+01:00

Oh Norman, for God's sake,relax and drink whatever the Germans drink when in Germany,you're like one of the "Steak and chips with ketchup" brigade in Spain!

Rosierainbow, I would also highly recommend the Ri...

2007-04-30T23:50:00.000+01:00

Rosierainbow, I would also highly recommend the Rington's ginger snaps. Heaven...

Oh dear Norman, for goodness sake don't encourage ...

2007-04-30T23:23:00.000+01:00

Oh dear Norman, for goodness sake don't encourage wifey to take Tetley's to Germany, she'll need a real brew after all she's trying to "blend" in and become a northerner - only Ringtons will do. But wifey, you'll have to catch the little chap in his van next time he's zooming along your lane.

"Der Tee is gut aber die Tasse ist zu klein" first...

2007-04-30T19:50:00.000+01:00

"Der Tee is gut aber die Tasse ist zu klein" first phrase in the Assimil Learn German textbook.
"My tailor is rich" in the English one and "Roma non fu fatta in un giorno" in the Italian one (not sure about the spelling on that one). Fascinating, I think.

You can't possibly go to any foreign country until...

2007-04-30T18:12:00.000+01:00

You can't possibly go to any foreign country until you have mastered the absolutely necessary phrases - apart from being able to order food and drink (obviously), its imperative to know "how much is this (pair of shoes, piece of jewellery, fantastic scarf.....etc.) please" or "just looking, thankyou" when you discover you don't like anything in the shop but may want to go back later for a more serious look. That usually covers all eventualities!

My husband, who rather fancies himself as a bit of a linguist, is always saying what sounds like "allus in ordnang" - Allus, Allus, who the **** is Allus you may ask and why is she in "ordnang"? This is of course phonetically spelt, but he assures me that it means "everything is alright" which is a nice reassuring phrase to know in any event.

NormanExcusez-moi!We ex-pat Brits do not crawl out...

2007-04-30T18:04:00.000+01:00

Norman
Excusez-moi!
We ex-pat Brits do not crawl out of the woodwork-we shimmy elegantly.

If you don't drink beer, then when in Germany, bes...

2007-04-30T16:48:00.000+01:00

If you don't drink beer, then when in Germany, best ask for "Eine Tasse Tee bitte." One snag: the Germans don't know how to make proper tea.
One tip: take a box of Tetley's tea bags with you. You'll find the ex-pat Brits crawling out of the woodwork.
Actually that last piece of advice applies for ANYWHERE in mainland Europe!

German - such an ugly language for you; you who us...

2007-04-30T14:50:00.000+01:00

German - such an ugly language for you; you who use the English language with such skill and poetry....
The way words are joined together to make one humungously long word is inelegant and reminds me of American (English) in which '-isation' is added to every word.
And how about the word order - reminds me of speaking Latin, if that's not too complimentary.
But, I hope you're enjoying - look forward to some future gutteral scripts.

Donner und Blitzen!

2007-04-30T14:13:00.000+01:00

Donner und Blitzen!

I went to Germany as a teenager, only knowing the ...

2007-04-30T13:33:00.000+01:00

I went to Germany as a teenager, only knowing the one phrase: "ganz im Gegenteil" which means something like "not a bit of it" or "on the contrary" (no doubt some linguistics pedant will have my arse for this).
Its amazing how long you can converse with someone, with just this one phrase. At the time, I felt it made me sound really enigmatic.

Mariella Frostrup has just being doing a programme...

2007-04-30T11:35:00.000+01:00

Mariella Frostrup has just being doing a programme about married couples who live in separate houses on Radio 4 - I didn't hear Mariella talking to either you or Rilly..

Was this just an accidental oversight?