“…Lebensraum.”
I got a few puzzled looks, and a few people took a step back. Rather, the word that I was looking for was Wohnzimmer. Lebensraum does not mean “living room,” but instead refers to the Nazi ideology of aggressive territorial expansion. Oops.
People were a little concerned about my eagerness to clean up the Occupied Eastern Territories. That was already tried 70 years ago, in a darker part of history. It’s hard to explain that you’re not a fanatic right-winger when you hardly speak German.
I happened to win the squeaky-chair lottery, and I was stuck with a chair attempting to imitate a donkey. Making a joke of the situation, I said to the person next to me,
“Wir brauchen Gleitmittel…” (English: We need lubricant.)
Gleitmittel is apparently not the same as Schmiermittel. In English, both translate to lube/lubricant, however, in German, Schmiermittel is for machinery, and Gleitmittel is for….another kind of machinery.
I can only imagine what that fellow was thinking.
…Uh….we?
…Oh you mean the chair?….here? Now? Really, not in public. I don’t care about your chair kink, but just…save it for home…
I better start reading.
Oh, Andrew, you brought tears of laughter . This will be shared with so many people who need a good dose of belly laughing cheer this time of year!
I’m glad to hear that :)
I don’t know any of that, its been a very long time since I spoke german.
Andrew, you always make me laugh!!!! thank you!!!! I love reading your blog.