Beer beer-ah, luht-fen!
February 23, 2010 12:30 PM Subscribe
I'd rather see the translations for "two beers please, and he's paying."
posted by peeedro at 12:42 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by peeedro at 12:42 PM on February 23, 2010
Bah, well there goes my theory that the drunkest nations also have the simplest beer-ordering phrases...
posted by samsara at 12:46 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by samsara at 12:46 PM on February 23, 2010
American: Brewski here, please!
If the other translations are this idiotic then I will have to pass.
posted by shockingbluamp at 12:47 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
If the other translations are this idiotic then I will have to pass.
posted by shockingbluamp at 12:47 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
This is about as useful as a list of how to order "a dinner" in a restaurant or "a movie ticket" at a cinema. That is to say, sure, you will find some restaurants that offer only one dinner option and cinemas that show only one film, but I always find it ordering "a beer" massively peculiar in most instances.
posted by setanor at 12:48 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by setanor at 12:48 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
Irish - Byohr awoyn, lyeh doh hull!
Way to mark yourself out as a tourist there. 'One' beer, hah!
posted by knapah at 12:53 PM on February 23, 2010
Way to mark yourself out as a tourist there. 'One' beer, hah!
posted by knapah at 12:53 PM on February 23, 2010
Norwegian - Ehn url, tahk!
Øl is not pronounced "url" either.
posted by knapah at 12:55 PM on February 23, 2010
Øl is not pronounced "url" either.
posted by knapah at 12:55 PM on February 23, 2010
This is pretty useless if you don't know how to order a cold beer.
posted by Omon Ra at 1:03 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by Omon Ra at 1:03 PM on February 23, 2010
This is pretty useless if you don't know how to order a cold beer.
You've not enjoyed the pleasures of a steamed beer on a wind-whipped Alpine summit, have you?
posted by setanor at 1:07 PM on February 23, 2010
You've not enjoyed the pleasures of a steamed beer on a wind-whipped Alpine summit, have you?
posted by setanor at 1:07 PM on February 23, 2010
Guacala, no, thankfully setanor... but I was in Peru a couple of years ago and those people don't understand the meaning of cold beverages. They had refrigerators but never plugged them in.
posted by Omon Ra at 1:16 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by Omon Ra at 1:16 PM on February 23, 2010
Phonetically? Not so much.
French: Une bière, s'il vous plait!
Without four years of high school French with a teacher who wasn't afraid to give a little smack to the back of the head I would pronounce the last word as "plate".
Ooon be-air, si (plus an L so faint you can hardly hear it, or you'll get a smack) voo-play. FTFY
posted by Science! at 1:17 PM on February 23, 2010
French: Une bière, s'il vous plait!
Without four years of high school French with a teacher who wasn't afraid to give a little smack to the back of the head I would pronounce the last word as "plate".
Ooon be-air, si (plus an L so faint you can hardly hear it, or you'll get a smack) voo-play. FTFY
posted by Science! at 1:17 PM on February 23, 2010
That's it. I'm making a "how to..." translation page just for american tourists coming to germany and all the translations will result in unforgettable things happening to them.
posted by krautland at 1:24 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by krautland at 1:24 PM on February 23, 2010
Finnish: "O-loot moolek kee-tos!" This may work, as long as you remember to stress the first syllable of each word. You don't necessarily need 'moleek'. In case you're afraid of a follow-up question, you could specify in advance and go with "E-so o-loot, kee-tos". Iso = big. Saying this should get you a 0.5 litre glass of Finnish lager (if that's what you want).
posted by The Mouthchew at 1:25 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by The Mouthchew at 1:25 PM on February 23, 2010
My hovercraft is full of eels...
posted by Omon Ra at 1:26 PM on February 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Omon Ra at 1:26 PM on February 23, 2010 [3 favorites]
There's a listing for the language called "American" but not "English." And I've ordered thousands of beers in the US and never referred to it as a "brewski". I've also never order "a beer" anywhere I've been. I'll ask for a particular brand. The only people who sidle up to the bar and ask for a beer are characters on TV.
posted by birdherder at 1:42 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by birdherder at 1:42 PM on February 23, 2010
Real men just slam their fists on the counter, burp and slide a fiver. That's the universal language of beer.
posted by qvantamon at 1:58 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by qvantamon at 1:58 PM on February 23, 2010
edgeways: "now, how do you say, "No larger""
More importantly how do you say, "No, larger."
posted by Science! at 2:03 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
More importantly how do you say, "No, larger."
posted by Science! at 2:03 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Irish one will gt you punched in the mouth for having a Dublin 4 accent. Possibly even in Dublin 4.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 2:08 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Nick Verstayne at 2:08 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
I've also never order "a beer" anywhere I've been
I've done exactly this in bars in France and Spain, always with delicious results. Ordering a sherry in Granada proved to be much more difficult, however, much to the amusement of the other patrons.
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 2:21 PM on February 23, 2010
I've done exactly this in bars in France and Spain, always with delicious results. Ordering a sherry in Granada proved to be much more difficult, however, much to the amusement of the other patrons.
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 2:21 PM on February 23, 2010
FYI in Catalan it's more like Una cerveca seece plow. Por favor works, but you'll get major props, a high five and maybe even a hug if you attempt to trot out the Catalan amongst the locals.
posted by jimmythefish at 2:25 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by jimmythefish at 2:25 PM on February 23, 2010
German: Noch einmal, bitte!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:29 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:29 PM on February 23, 2010
Eh, there are nuances in different countries.
In England (or London at least) you do ask by brand as the (lager) selection is often pretty wide. Asking for a pint of bitter usually gets you the local/popular flavour. Asking for a stout will usually get you Guinness.
In Finland you request the lager on tap based on the strength you want it in as they'll usually only be rocking one of the many Finnish brands. If you want something fancy, you'll have to ask for it separately, but asking for a beer will generally get you a pint of "keskiolut" which is beer with an alcohol content between 3 and 5 or thereabouts.
In Spain, they also usually stock one brand on tap and they just want to know if you want a small glass, a big glass or a bottle.
More on topic: The Finnish "Olut mulle kiitos" is an odd departure from the standard set by the other languages: it does not translate to "one beer, please". It's more like "(a) beer for me please". "Yksi olut, kiitos" is a bit more polite and adheres to the format.
Another good tip to remember: for languages that have gendered nouns, usually ordering two beers negates the need to remember which one it is. (una/un cerveca vs. dos cervecas, ett/en öl vs. två öl).
posted by slimepuppy at 2:35 PM on February 23, 2010
In England (or London at least) you do ask by brand as the (lager) selection is often pretty wide. Asking for a pint of bitter usually gets you the local/popular flavour. Asking for a stout will usually get you Guinness.
In Finland you request the lager on tap based on the strength you want it in as they'll usually only be rocking one of the many Finnish brands. If you want something fancy, you'll have to ask for it separately, but asking for a beer will generally get you a pint of "keskiolut" which is beer with an alcohol content between 3 and 5 or thereabouts.
In Spain, they also usually stock one brand on tap and they just want to know if you want a small glass, a big glass or a bottle.
More on topic: The Finnish "Olut mulle kiitos" is an odd departure from the standard set by the other languages: it does not translate to "one beer, please". It's more like "(a) beer for me please". "Yksi olut, kiitos" is a bit more polite and adheres to the format.
Another good tip to remember: for languages that have gendered nouns, usually ordering two beers negates the need to remember which one it is. (una/un cerveca vs. dos cervecas, ett/en öl vs. två öl).
posted by slimepuppy at 2:35 PM on February 23, 2010
Another good tip to remember: for languages that have gendered nouns, usually ordering two beers negates the need to remember which one it is. (una/un cerveca vs. dos cervecas, ett/en öl vs. två öl).
It also gets you drunker faster, and then you don't care if you sound like an idiot, so you speak better! Take it from me, orderer of beers in many lands, some where I speak the language, some not so much.
Once upon a time when I lived in the Czech Republic, our friend, a native of Plzen (mmmmmbeer), took us home to his local bar. HOLE in the wall bar in arguably one of the best beer cities ever. After the first round, he offered to start ordering Cokes for us girlfolk. We declined. We kept drinking. We outdrank the American guys. We kept up with the Czechs. Hell, we had the old Czech dude regulars impressed. To this day, the only thing I need to know about ordering beer in the Czech Republic is which digit to use it you want one (thumb) or two (index).
By the way, we walked out of there perfectly upright and as ladylike as you please. Can't say the same for our fellow countrymen of the male persuasion.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:47 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
It also gets you drunker faster, and then you don't care if you sound like an idiot, so you speak better! Take it from me, orderer of beers in many lands, some where I speak the language, some not so much.
Once upon a time when I lived in the Czech Republic, our friend, a native of Plzen (mmmmmbeer), took us home to his local bar. HOLE in the wall bar in arguably one of the best beer cities ever. After the first round, he offered to start ordering Cokes for us girlfolk. We declined. We kept drinking. We outdrank the American guys. We kept up with the Czechs. Hell, we had the old Czech dude regulars impressed. To this day, the only thing I need to know about ordering beer in the Czech Republic is which digit to use it you want one (thumb) or two (index).
By the way, we walked out of there perfectly upright and as ladylike as you please. Can't say the same for our fellow countrymen of the male persuasion.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:47 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
This has less entries than the I Can Eat Glass project. Put the beer down and get to work!
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:46 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:46 PM on February 23, 2010
Excellent, this puts me one step closer to my University goal for foreign languages. I had decided that I needed to know three phrases in every (for a reasonable value of 'every') language.
1) One Beer, please (now covered)
2) Where is the Toilet? ( http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/toilet.htm )
3) Help me I've been hideously mangled in a train accident. (needs more work)
I'm really not sure where that last phrase came from...
posted by cirhosis at 4:16 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
1) One Beer, please (now covered)
2) Where is the Toilet? ( http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/toilet.htm )
3) Help me I've been hideously mangled in a train accident. (needs more work)
I'm really not sure where that last phrase came from...
posted by cirhosis at 4:16 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Wasn't this an askme a while back? Besides, two beers are always better.
Bonus: My first full Japanese sentence was "Sumimasen, kono biru wa chotto nurui desu kara, picha mo hitotsu onegaishimasu" which, roughly translated into "Excuse me, this beer is a bit too warm, could we have another pitcher please?
posted by Ghidorah at 4:32 PM on February 23, 2010
Bonus: My first full Japanese sentence was "Sumimasen, kono biru wa chotto nurui desu kara, picha mo hitotsu onegaishimasu" which, roughly translated into "Excuse me, this beer is a bit too warm, could we have another pitcher please?
posted by Ghidorah at 4:32 PM on February 23, 2010
No hebrew beer, please?
Biruh b'vaksha (at least according to the great goo-master)
Beer doesn't seem to occur in the bible (proving once again what a limited resource it is)
but wine sure does:
Yayin b'vaksha.
posted by hexatron at 6:10 PM on February 23, 2010
Biruh b'vaksha (at least according to the great goo-master)
Beer doesn't seem to occur in the bible (proving once again what a limited resource it is)
but wine sure does:
Yayin b'vaksha.
posted by hexatron at 6:10 PM on February 23, 2010
bardic, I'm having a little trouble with your phonetic spelling...
posted by aqsakal at 11:22 PM on February 23, 2010
posted by aqsakal at 11:22 PM on February 23, 2010
The Korean one is asking for "a glass of beer", whereas all the other ones (that I can understand) seem to be asking for just "a beer" - bottle or glass or whatever.
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 1:17 AM on February 24, 2010
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 1:17 AM on February 24, 2010
All the ones I know seem to be a little off or just plain wrong. In Sweden I think you'd be better off asking for "En stor stark, tack" to get regular lager beer, although it literally translates as "A large and strong, please".
posted by ikalliom at 12:40 PM on February 24, 2010
posted by ikalliom at 12:40 PM on February 24, 2010
I thought this was going to be Beer, translated, which my friend made.
posted by scottreynen at 5:29 PM on February 25, 2010
posted by scottreynen at 5:29 PM on February 25, 2010
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