h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh, we have a guide entry which explains that: A9913331

In my experience, that entry is a bit inaccurate.

Literally dozens of Germans have told me the story about Kennedy saying he was a jelly doughnut.

They also insisted that Berliner were called Kennedys.

And - at least in Bonn and Cologne - they insisted that my favourite bakery confection, a tea cake with white icing, was called an 'Amerikaner' because of Kennedy.

Even if this is not true, it was widely believed in the 70s and 80s.

Of course, Rheinlanders and urban legends...

Do not insult Rheinlanders. Ich bin Rheinlaender.

Ah, a Rheinländer is either a kind of chicken or a kind of horse. Which would you like?

i am sure the amerikaners were invented before kennedy turned into a berliner

rheinländer can also be a folk dance, a certain kind of polka

there is a silly danish pun about it since it can be translated into rain and loins: boring party. too much rain and too few loins

There is. Do tell.

Oops, the page wasn't all there. Was replying to the first mention of the JFK joke. How funny; Kennedy doesn't sound like a Danish name...

ah, but then a berliner is not danish either

Ah, yes, a polka, that would explain Dmitri

it would

Sure. I grew up in Pittsburgh - in the middle ofpolka country.

Anybody for a chorus of 'No Halupke for Me'?



For the uninitiated, John F Kennedy wanted to show solidarity with the Germans, so he said 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'

This does not mean 'I am a Berliner', as in 'I am a citizen on Berlin.'

It means 'I am a jelly doughnut.'

JFK, though, endeared himself to the city folk by pronouncing 'ich' as 'ik'. Which is the way they say it in Berlin.

The rest may be urban legend, but he *did* say he was a jelly doughnut.

Which is better than what Jimmy Carter said to the Poles...

i beg to differ

if you say 'ich bin ein berliner' it can mean both 'i am a jelly doughnut' and 'i am a citizen of berlin'

what did jimmy carter say

Well, if I were a Berliner, I would probably say 'Ich bin Berliner', but if you say so...

It wasn't so much poor Jimmy - who doesn't know Polish- as his hapless translator.

Who told everybody that Jimmy, who wanted to say he loved the Polish people in a totally appropriate way, had actually said he, er, loved them in a totally inappropriate way...

Which, after that Playboy interview, was sort of unfortunate for our shy and proper President.

In Berlin, the jelly doughnuts are called "Pfannkuchen", anyway, so for his location, it was unambiguous

Whereas they are called Karpfen in Munich, and sometimes contain mustard, but hey...

Krapfen. A Karpfen is a fish.

I knew that.

Since I'm misspelling too much, I will unsub and stay away until I can read again.

ich bin ein schleswiger - and we had mustard in a few of our berliners as well

only new years eve, though

Last night I dreamed the most godawful, terrible German-English pun.

There was an old woman begging. She kept saying "Ein Groschen bitte...Ein Groschen bitte...", over and over. In the dream, somebody eventually gave her ein Groschen.

But just then, an American cavalry officer came up and took it from her. They started to fight. I was on my way over to try to break it up, when the old, old lady hit him a tremendous punch and completely floored him. I looked a bit surprised, obviously. She turned to me and asked in English "What??? Don't you know that Custer loses the Battle of the Little Big One?"

Ein Groschen...

we had a family in flensburg who insisted their family name should be pronounced Hösschen - but it was spelled höschen...

to make things worse they named one of the daughters rosa...

(for all non-germans: it translates into 'pink panties')

There was a famous tycoon in America named Pigg. His girls got dubbed "Ima" and "Ura".
I guess they were rich enough to live it down...