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Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Apparently, I Can Read Dutch
 I just visited the website of Geert Wilders and found this newly-posted sentence, and I discovered that I can read it with ease: "2008 was een fantastisch jaar voor de PVV en hopelijk wordt 2009 zelfs nog beter!" So I want you to be among the first to know. Apparently, I can read Dutch. Posted on 12/31/2008 5:55 PM by Hugh Fitzgerald
Comments
1 Jan 2009
reactionry Signs Of Intelligibility In The Netherlands
Or: Tweedledum & Boss Tweed Zeider Zee?
Or: Tweede & Silvester
Apparently, I Can Speak Dutch...
.....although unlike Hugh, not French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian and god knows wot else.
A pathetic attempt at a quiz which appeared without trace on NER buggered the question of what was the correct ending of the Yorkshire couplet cited by John Geipel and posted here as
Bread, butter, ale and cheese
Is good Halifax and good Cleese
The better known and more easily googled distich which giveth the answer is:
Bread, butter and green cheese
Is very good English and very good Friese
So, as asked on PBS's Mr. Roget's Neighborhood, "Boys and girls, can you say, 'Brea, bûter, en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk'?.....Good. Now you're speaking West Frisian, although the 'orthography and mode of writing both differ'."
Now, echt Dutch, as opposed to West Frisian, looks to be more difficult, though kredietcrisis and economische appear to be cognates in "Deze week debatteerde de Tweede Kamer over de economische gevolgen van de kredietcrisis."
I'll have to defer to Mary as to whether debatteerde is used like a good English noun or a bad English verb.
To all the staff and readers of NER, Season's Greetings and.....
 Happy Sylvester!
via Air Mail from....
 Tweety Kamer
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