No he doesn't speak German. He speaks Swiss German. German people often have a hard time understanding Swiss people. DUH! Are you really that freaking stubborn to argue with me on this one. You used a REALLY POOR example. You got caught. Here is the example that I posted earlier: In Switzerland they speak Swiss German, and that's something completely different. Swiss German has its own pronunciation, many different words, its own grammar, and most Germans have difficulty understanding this funny language. The German-speaking Swiss write standard German, that's true - there is no Swiss German official language (but still some literature, e-mails etc. using the dialect). The Swiss can also speak standard German very well, but to them it's a foreign language that they have to learn how to use when they start school. It is TOTALLY OBVIOUS to everyone here BUT YOU that you are WRONG. You would have been better off and would have saved more face by saying: "I have NO IDEA what I am talking about. I should not have started this thread as it has hence blown up in my face. I apologize to all that opened it. I will try really hard the next time I think about posting something that was forwarded to me by other neocontards from the waste land that is YOU TUBE to think about all the really stupid things I have posted in the past without comment and how many times I have been subsequently destroyed thereafter. I apologize again, please find it in your heart to forgive me."
basso is right - Obama made a mistake there. There is no "Austrian", it's a dialect/accent of German. The language is still German. It would be like saying "I don't know what the term is in American". Anyway, no big deal, if someone talks all day, they'll make mistakes. I wouldn't hold it against him.
Correct answer. Obama screwed up but it happens. You can't expect anyone to be 100% perfect in every foreign reference. Just seems like a stupid thing to bring up and start a post about.
interesting. i've spent, in aggregate, probably a couple of years in (Western) Europe, mostly UK, France, Germany, and Italy, and I've never had anyone ask if i spoke "American." YMMV
Which doesnt make it correct, it merely exemplifies the fact that anyone an have a slip of tongue like this. This thread seems so silly.
Wow, gotta love the Sheeple that voted for this unqualified fraud, thinking he was a 'Citizen of the World'. What a paper-thin facade... I guess people will believe anything that is presented in front of throngs of adoring fans, and delivered in the 'angry, righteous voice of God' style. It's embarassing, really, that 53% of voting Americans are so gullible that a super-chraged marketing campaign can convince them that an in-over-his-head, accomplishment-less pompous buffoon is worthy of the most powerful job on earth... KAPUT
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It's interesting to me too that you as a guy who pretends to know french have never heard the phrase. Because when I was in France in 1996, obtaining my CCFS from Sorbonne at 214 Boulevard Raspail, in the Montparnasse, Madame Greaves, the teacher, would frequently scold the living sh-t out of English speakers in her classroom by yelling "Ne Parlez Pas Americain!" and threatening a ceaseless torrent of indignation upon any offenders. Do you have any evidence to the contrary that this did not happen? Now that that's established...Is there anything else you'd like me to do to help you out in this thread? Let me know if you want a picture next time.
do you have a picture of Madame Greaves? well, i was there in 95-96 as well, while my wife was studying at the Sorbonne, but my expertise here is not grammatical- i freely confess my french (and italian, and german) grammar is execrable. my spoken french on the other hand, is actually quite good (at least in the context that i can carry on a reasonable conversation, for several hours, w/o having to resort to "L'anglais"), although apparently, i have a bit of a german accent. and i have never had anyone tell me, nor any of my american friends, that they spoke American. i suspect Madame Greaves was using the term derisively, but you instead, seem to have drawn some universal lesson about ugly americans. tant pis.
To be fair, I think Europeans take dialects more seriously then Americans do since there are so many distinct differences. For example, I know Parisians will instantly deride "Belgian French" and that "French-Canadian French or Québécois" is nearly incomprehensible to them. Whereas a staunch, conservative Texan and a Manhattan yuppie can maintain a functional conversation (although both will probably end up hating each other), the same cannot be said of people who speak High German and the various other dialects of German. A good example of this would also be China; a well-known distinction being made between Cantonese and Mandarin even though the two have the same base. So, technically Obama is right. And even if he was wrong, what's the deal? eh...slow news day I guess.
Jackie: Here's your annual response from me for 2009 - treasure this because you will not hear from me till next year. It's not, and you are. Suck.
Not really interested in stooping down to SamFisher's level, but just to reiterate, it is simply untrue that Europeans would refer to American English as American sometimes, no matter how many times and in how many variations SamFisher will try to justify this incorrect statement.
