More English in Berlin, Weimar, and Oranienburg. This week I was thinking about who is able to read these English signs. It occurred to me that former East Germans wouldn't have learned English in school the way West Germans would have--they'd be more likely to learn Russian. Is this another source of Ossi-Wessi division? Language can be a very political thing, both in how it is used and in which language is spoken or allowed to be spoken or taught. The English in these three photos seems pretty likely to be directed at and/or created by younger people (and I know "sexy" is pretty much assimilated into German), but older East Germans might have a different relationship to English in their surroundings than other Germans do.
That last photo--no one would ever name a tattoo parlor in the US that, would they?
I remembered what I was going to mention to you on the train! Are you aware of the "extraneous apostrophe disease" invading America? The profusion of "it's" that should be "its," "ski's" and "bra's" and "Monday's"? Well, I noticed that this disease has spread to Germany - in Weimar there were signs for "hot dog's" and "snack's"!!!
ReplyDeleteI really hate extraneous apostrophes. Sad they've spread, but I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for them.
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