The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #43581   Message #640557
Posted By: Wilfried Schaum
02-Feb-02 - 08:53 AM
Thread Name: BS: Great Misquotations
Subject: RE: BS: Great Misquotations
Another misquotation, here by Genie: laete is adverb and means joyfully indeed, but the original version is laeti, nom. pl. m. of the adjective and means joyful(s). So the criticized translation is correct. Laete triumphantes would be considered bad style by the old Romans.
gnu is right in noticing that Berliner means a sort of doughnut in certain regions of Germany, but also the inhabitants of the citiy of Berlin. I heard JFK's famous words, and I must say: nobody listening to his uplifting words had any thoughts about doughnuts at this moment. Only later on people asked: what will he say in Paris? "Ich bin ein Pariser"? The joke in German is that Pariser in German not only denotes the inhabitants of Paris, France, but also a french letter.
Just another note to the terms of bakery: Amerikaner = American also can denote another sort of doughnut in German. It's always a question of context to find the right meaning.

Wilfried