Where do they get these ideas?

[muckefuck]

I love my buddy the Scoutmaster, but he needs serious help. Last weekend, for what seems like the tenth time, I heard him say, "They have no subtlety in their language; everything is pronounced like it's spelled." (The language in question is that of many of his co-workers, Croatian.) There are so many dire misconceptions packed into that one statement that I don't know where to begin; I just want to send him off to some linguistic boot camp to have some sense pounded into him.

I did get to speak some German again at Bear Pride this year, with an affable Yankee daddy. To my surprise, Sahneschnittchen was a word he was unfamiliar with even though he apparently travels to Germany quite often. One thing left a bad taste in my mouth: Nuphy and I were filling him on the latest in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof stabbings. (Turns out, one of the first people to be stabbed was HIV-positive, so now all victims are receiving a new emergency treatment that should radically reduce their chances of being infected.) His first question about the youth in custody was, "Was he Turkish?"
"No, he was from Neukölln."
"He could still be Turkish. There are Turks who are German citizens."
Nuphy assured him, "No, the report made it clear that he was German."
But that still wasn't enough for our new friend. "There are a lot of problems with the Turks in Berlin," he added. True, buddy, but RANDOMLY STABBING PASSERSBY has not historically been one of them. Every group has its crazies. Berlin is a fairly safe city overall, but if you were to be stabbed there, your attacker is far more likely to be an ethnic German neo-Nazi than a member of any ethnic minority.

Comments

[cpratt.livejournal.com]

That's especially curious given that there's a Ralf König book by the same name.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

Berlin is a fairly safe city overall, but if you were to be stabbed there, your attacker is far more likely to be an ethnic German neo-Nazi than a member of any ethnic minority.

Also, if you're beaten up.

Croats?????

[darkphuque.livejournal.com]

They make my blood alternately boil and chill me enough to give me shivers... according to my relatives... well, perhaps I shouldn't go there and dispell the concept that I am not prejudiced, 'cause in this area I definately am