JFK

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

He did claim to be a jelly donut (literal translation of "Ich bin ein
Berliner"), but the wall that went up on his watch came down on the hated
Reagan's watch.



I thought a "Berliner" was a type of sausage. Anyway, the picture
of an earnest JFK, waffling away in such seriousness, while the
locals tittered and guffawed must be the highpoint of his entire
presidency. Wish I'd been there.

--
Dr. Tony Cox
Citrus Controls Inc.
e-mail:
http://CitrusControls.com/

Tony Cox wrote:
"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

He did claim to be a jelly donut (literal translation of "Ich bin ein
Berliner"), but the wall that went up on his watch came down on the hated
Reagan's watch.

I thought a "Berliner" was a type of sausage. Anyway, the picture
of an earnest JFK, waffling away in such seriousness, while the
locals tittered and guffawed must be the highpoint of his entire
presidency. Wish I'd been there.

Sorry to disappoint, but I was there (attending a German "Hochschule" that
year) and heard no comments at all on the minor grammatical error from
Germans. I only saw mention of it in the American press. Any "tittering"
must have been drowned out in the loud applause and cheering in response to
that statement of his.

Tony Cox wrote:

I thought a "Berliner" was a type of sausage. Anyway, the picture
of an earnest JFK, waffling away in such seriousness, while the
locals tittered and guffawed must be the highpoint of his entire
presidency. Wish I'd been there.

No, it's a pastry, but from the films I've seen of the occasion, any titters
were completely drowned out by the cheers and thunderous applause.

George Patterson
If you're not part of the solution, you can make a lot of money prolonging
the problem.

I was in a German class at the time of this happening. My professor was from a
Berlin suburb. As I recall, his comment was that Kennedy simply mispronounced
the word.

I don't know which was which at this late date, but...

Ich bin ein BerlEEner was one thing

and

Ich bin ein BerlIINer was another.

One meant a resident of Berlin. The other was a local slang for "jelly donut".
Again, I say that it is not perfect German, but local slang.

Jim



-
-No, it's a pastry, but from the films I've seen of the occasion, any titters
-were completely drowned out by the cheers and thunderous applause.

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Jam doughnut, sometimes with icing and a cherry on.
They have nice ones in Dusseldorf railway station.

Paul

"Tony Cox" wrote in message
nk.net...
I thought a "Berliner" was a type of sausage.