Speaking in Tongues | Forum profile

Models in gardens In the TLS for November 20, the poet Hugo Williams describing a weekend in Ireland says: Ireland is wreathed in rain. The flat, muddy land has an innocent, old-fashioned look. Bits of wasteland lie about with nothing to do. Bungalows with models in their gardens look as though they have been pressed down into the mud. Models in their gardens? What does he mean by models? I take it Karolína Kurková and Gisele Bündchen...

Muchas gracias, sndr!! Das ist echt lieb von dir. Ich habe es auch bekommen. Wie komisch, ich habe niemanden gesperrt, so weit ich weiss, ausser meiner Schwester. Sie habe ich von meiner Freundeliste geloescht....;p Wenn ich etwas Bloedes schreibe, will ich sie nicht lesen. Mein Bruder und ich sind auch nicht 'befreundet', also nicht bei Facebook.... Luebeck sollte ganz schoen sein. Von dort kann man auch eine Insel besuchen, oder?...

One of my neighbours builds small models of these in his garden. He had to cement them down because someone tried to steal one -- they weigh 85 kilos. Another popular thing in some French gardens are old plows. Usually people who lived in the countryside until recently.

shilgia, I forgot that.

Ach ja, die Elizabeth, ... :-) Gefällt's dir in Curitiba, Schabernack? Ich war da mal vor ein paar Jahren, erinnere mich aber nicht wirklich an Curitiba. Ich glaub, wir sind von da aus dann nach Blumenau gefahren, das ist so ein auf deutsch/bayrisch getrimmtes Dorf. Fast so kitschig wie Disneyland. War aber ganz lustig, wenn man Lust auf Biergarten hat, und auf Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte oder so.

counting and showing the number two Are germans the only ones who show the number two (for example when entering a very noisy bar and showing the barmaid that you want two beer) with thumb and index finger? The Dutch already don't understand index and thumb to mean two. They themselves would use, and only understand, index and middle finger to mean "two". The same for Russians. I am almost sure French and English do the same,...

If I indicate "two" with my fingers, I do it with my index and middle fingers extended in a V, other fingers and thumbs folded into the palm of my hand. If I am counting with my fingers, I start with a closed hand, then extend my thumb for "one," my index finger for "two," etc. I guess I count in the German fashion despite being 100% Slav.

Are germans the only ones who show the number two (for example when entering a very noisy bar and showing the barmaid that you want two beer) with thumb and index finger? I know Canadians who do it this way (like the Germans) but don't know if it's the norm.

There's an equivalent of "What's the damage?" in Dutch also. (Wat is de schade?) Nobody uses it these days. (Except my grandfather, who doesn't even speak Dutch, but somehow took a liking to the phrase.)

I've seen a lot of these before, but that was a fun little break in my day. Thanks!