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Off topic: Completely frivolous thread
Thread poster: Tom in London
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:23
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Nah, it is not, ... Dec 3, 2020

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

Do hurdy, gurdy or hurdy-gurdy even mean anything in Swedish, or is it just our childish imitation of their diction?

... it does mean something*, as the following video clearly will demonstrate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNKn5ykP9PU

* it means: "This is not my Sandwich!"


expressisverbis
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Christopher Schröder
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Hurdy-gurdy julklapp Dec 3, 2020

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

I was wondering about that myself. And now some real Swedish sentences, too. With not even one "hurdy" or "gurdy" in there, tee-hee. Do hurdy, gurdy or hurdy-gurdy even mean anything in Swedish, or is it just our childish imitation of their diction?


Of course it means something. Not "sandwich", no, that's "smörgås" (which incidentally rhymes with "her loss" and is actually a rather odd word: although "smör" means "butter", "gås" is the Swedish word for "goose" and, more recently, "joint" as in cannabis...).

"Hördi, gördi!" is actually Swedish for "Achtung, Schpitfire!"

But where did the "julklapp" (=Xmas present) come from, Matthias???


Mervyn Henderson (X)
Matthias Brombach
expressisverbis
 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:23
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
I don´t know exactly, ... Dec 3, 2020

Chris S wrote:

But where did the "julklapp" (=Xmas present) come from, Matthias???


... perhaps from Denmark* and 30 years ago. But it does not mean the presents you exchange at Christmas Evening, but "Secret Santa", which means surprising each other on a daily basis the last 24 days before Christmas. The word and habit simply was there one day and you couldn´t get it rid of, like "Hohoho!", "Jingle Bells", the Bing Crosby and George Michael endless loops in the Supermarkets in these days, or the "Tannenbaum" (Christmas Tree) with its bowls on it. The latter where an invention of Prussian soldiers in one of their numerous wars fought for Bismarck and when they ran out of pea sausage and apples. Instead of them, they put their grenades on the trees at Christmas (in the trenches, not at home). The Swedish Schpitfires came later as a tradition, I suppose.

* or it was a marketing campaign by IKEA in the 1970s, sold as a tradition actually nobody knows in Scandinavia

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-03 11:34 GMT]

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-03 13:31 GMT]


Mervyn Henderson (X)
expressisverbis
 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:23
Danish to English
+ ...
Julklapp Dec 3, 2020

Matthias Brombach wrote:

Chris S wrote:

But where did the "julklapp" (=Xmas present) come from, Matthias???


... perhaps from Denmark* and 30 years ago.

* or it was a marketing campaign by IKEA in the 1970s, sold as a tradition actually nobody knows in Scandinavia

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-03 11:34 GMT]


It is most certainly neither Danish nor used in Denmark, except possibly for Ikea.


Mervyn Henderson (X)
expressisverbis
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:23
Spanish to English
+ ...
24 days Dec 3, 2020

Thanks Matthias. I was wondering about "secret" and "24 days", but I didn't want to show my ignorance!

Matthias Brombach
expressisverbis
 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:23
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Probably! Dec 3, 2020

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

It is most certainly neither Danish nor used in Denmark, except possibly for Ikea.


Thanks, good to know, and what is the situation in East Germany? Do they still celebrate "End-of-Year's-day" only at the 24th of December?


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:23
Danish to English
+ ...
East Germany Dec 3, 2020

Matthias Brombach wrote:

Thanks, good to know, and what is the situation in East Germany? Do they still celebrate "End-of-Year's-day" only at the 24th of December?


I have no idea, since I'm not East German.


 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:23
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Yes, but ... Dec 3, 2020

Thomas T. Frost wrote:


I have no idea, since I'm not East German.


... what products do they sell for "X-mas" in your NP-discount supermarket: Chokolade Santa Clauses already or still flags in the (current) German colors, and with hammer and calipers on it (and nothing else but turnips, as before 1989)?

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-03 13:51 GMT]


Christopher Schröder
 
expressisverbis
expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 10:23
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Christmas Dec 3, 2020

Christmas around the world:

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/

And have some fun with your kids. Email Santa:

https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/


Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:23
Danish to English
+ ...
GDR Dec 3, 2020

Matthias Brombach wrote:

Thomas T. Frost wrote:


I have no idea, since I'm not East German.


... what products do they sell for "X-mas" in your NP-discount supermarket: Chokolade Santa Clauses already or still flags in the (current) German colors, and with hammer and calipers on it (and nothing else but turnips, as before 1989)?


It looks pretty much like the same tat you find everywhere else.

But, to be serious for once, which I know will come as a shock to many, that Nazi guy who committed the terror attacks in Halle lived just 5 km from me, in Benndorf – a chilling thought. Out in the sticks.

And a somewhat bizarre neighbour once asked me if there were any Nazi paraphernalia in my pre-war annexes. I politely said there wasn't. Only junk.

This can be a strange place.

Thankfully nobody will suspect me of not being German unless they hear me speak.


Matthias Brombach
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:23
Spanish to English
+ ...
@Exy Dec 3, 2020

Thanks, Sandra. I went to "email Santa", and tried to find out if I was on his Nice List. But I wasn't.

expressisverbis
 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:23
Danish to English
+ ...
Nice list Dec 3, 2020

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

Thanks, Sandra. I went to "email Santa", and tried to find out if I was on his Nice List. But I wasn't.


Of course you aren't on the Nice list. You live in Spain, not on the French Riviera.

[Edited at 2020-12-03 16:09 GMT]


Mervyn Henderson (X)
P.L.F. Persio
Christopher Schröder
expressisverbis
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:23
Spanish to English
+ ...
Thankfully nobody will suspect me of not being German unless they hear me speak Dec 3, 2020

But they have ways of making you talk.

Thomas T. Frost
P.L.F. Persio
Matthias Brombach
Christopher Schröder
expressisverbis
 
expressisverbis
expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 10:23
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
"Make the Magi(c)" Dec 3, 2020

Mervyn Henderson wrote:

Thanks, Sandra. I went to "email Santa", and tried to find out if I was on his Nice List. But I wasn't.


That's because you need to "make the Magi(c)" first to be included on that list

https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/makeamagi.shtml


Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:23
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
And for your situation that´s not a matter of the dialect you speak ... Dec 3, 2020

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

Thankfully nobody will suspect me of not being German unless they hear me speak.


... but perhaps of your opinion.
I´m sorry again for my allusions towards these parts of my country. I like the people there as much as in the western parts, but it is a fact, that a very brawling minority of them there causes unnecessary trouble. This cannot be discussed in two or three sentences and not in this place, I´m afraid. Thomas, I believe you are safe there, where you live. Even all other Friends of Mr. Cairo assembled here in this thread would be safe there, but for Mr. Cairo himself, I could not guarantee it. I still live in a place of Kiel, which, at the first glance, looks nice to be, but when you mess with some of the autochthonous locals here in my street, you better move house (which I am going to do next year). It doesn´t need to mess actively, but your looking or appearance and the rumors spread about you may be sufficient, that some of them will have a down on you and you better don´t walk alone here after lunch or in the dark.

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-03 17:15 GMT]

[Bearbeitet am 2020-12-03 17:21 GMT]


Mervyn Henderson (X)
Thomas T. Frost
P.L.F. Persio
 
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