Here is the last phrasebook

August 3, 2000 5:56 AM

Here is the last phrasebook Americans will ever need when they go overseas. Packed with useful little snippets like:

I wish to complain.
Je veux porter plainte.
Protesto.

Don't "imperialist pig" me, my good man.
Fichez-moi la paix avec votre "cochon impérialiste", mon petit bonhomme.
¡Váyase usted al cuerno con su "cerdo imperialista", hombre!

How do I get Letterman?
Sur quelle chaîne je peux voir Letterman ?
¿En qué canal puedo ver Letterman?

posted by lagado (5 comments total)

These are nice, too. Completely inaccurate, but nice.

I understand your language perfectly.
Je parle français comme une vache espagnole.
Hablo español como un gringo borracho.

Those, of course, are "Spanish cow" and "drunk gringo." Sort of like the Hungarian Phrase Book: "My hovercraft is full of eels."


posted by RakDaddy at 10:23 AM on August 3, 2000

Yeah, like we're gonna believe there's a word in Hungarian for "hovercraft"...
posted by wendell at 12:43 PM on August 3, 2000

Did you know that Hungarians have over 256 words for "goulash" and not a single word for "hovercraft?"


posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 1:05 PM on August 3, 2000

Actually, Unc, my Hungarian friend informs me that you have it backwards. They have 256 words for "hovercraft." Apparently they really like hovercrafts in Hungary. Nobody drives cars anymore.

As for "goulash," Hungarians actually use the phrase "Nectar of the Gods" rather than a single word.
posted by daveadams at 1:40 PM on August 3, 2000

That's because Hungarian is a non Indo-European language, distantly related to Mongolian.I suppose when cruising around the grassy steppe of Central Asia, a hovercraft can be really fun.
posted by lagado at 3:57 PM on August 3, 2000