Blogwiese reports on an article in BLICK in late September: a Swiss politician wants Germans in Switzerland to be given integration courses. He is from the SVP, a Conservative party.

«An der Medizinischen Fakultät der Uni Zürich rumort es», sagt Mörgeli, der dort Professor für Medizingeschichte ist. Die Deutschen hätten Mühe, sich an unsere Gepflogenheit anzupassen. In der Schweiz seien die Hierarchien halt flacher. «Bei uns ist ein Arzt kein Gott in Weiss. In Deutschland schon.»

Blogwiese comments on the different style:

Das mit dem schrofferen Tonfall, das können wir gut nachvollziehen. Es ist der klassische Konflikt zwischen Deutscher „Ich kriege noch ein Pils!“ gegen „Wären Sie bitte so gut, ich hätte gern noch eine Stange, wenn möglich“. Deutsche Direktheit vs. Schweizer Schweizer Konjunktiv.

Actually I wish I had studied German manners many years ago. I think it is too late now. Self-deprecation, for example, can be seen as an invitation to be insulted.

In other news, a German BLICK reporter attends a course in Swiss German.

Incidentally, I learnt recently that a former British colleague of mine who is married to a German and has grown-up children here has now got dual nationality. This is theoretically possible in the EU if reciprocally permitted. And yet when she first enquired at the town hall in Erlangen, they accepted her application but laughed at her for imagining EU law filtered into Bavaria so fast.

Dirk Pässler lives and works in Fürth and takes nice photos. Photoblog.

The finished end (a bit grubby):

Work going on:

Here Jürgen’s antiques shop (plus Jürgen, who did not mind being photographed) with KW44 indicating the work should be finished in the 44th calendar week (around November 1st). A lot of shopkeepers painted these dates on Wednesday night in protest at how long it has taken.

Kreuzer’s with picture of sausage:

A travel agency:

And finally, the Buddel as done up by the grandmother of one of the builders:

Die Guardian berichtet, dass der Lord Chief Justice (Lordoberrichter) mit Strafgefangenen einen Tag lang gemeinnützige Arbeit geleistet hat, die statt einer Gefängnisstrafe verhängt wird oder eine Strafe verkürzt. Er wollte beweisen, dass auch Strafen, die keine Freiheitsstrafen sind (non-custodial sentences) funktionieren. Die Presse war nicht informiert.

‘My cover had been arranged,’ he said. ‘I posed as a shipping solicitor convicted of driving with excess alcohol and sentenced to 150 hours’ unpaid work and 18 months’ disqualification.’

Er musste u.a. eine heruntergekommene Unterführung saubermachen.

The most senior judge in England and Wales – told to wear a yellow fluorescent jacket for safety reasons – was driven to the Lakes in Bletchley, a run-down council estate where vandalism and antisocial behaviour are rife. He and his three workmates were ordered to scrape the moss from two filthy seating areas and clean them up before repainting a burnt-out underpass daubed in graffiti and clearing surrounding weeds.
Though the 68-year-old Phillips swims in icy outdoor pools all winter and treks in the Himalayas, he found the work demanding.

Vielleicht sollte man sich einfach vorstellen, man wäre in der Himalaya?

Some passers-by who saw the men’s ‘Community Payback’ sandwich board shouted at the Lord Chief Justice that his efforts were useless. ‘They asked why we were bothering to clean the place up when it would be just the same tomorrow.’ Others were encouraging, including a gang of small boys who demanded to know what crimes the men had committed. ‘Until then there hadn’t been a lot of chitchat or eye contact, but the offenders readily admitted what they had done,’ Phillips said. ‘I thought it was a very good lesson for these boys.’
He was allowed a short lunch break in which he ate a cheese and tomato roll prepared by his wife and read The Sea, by John Banville. His three workmates shared a copy of the Sun.

LATER NOTE: the Consilio Charon blog has the story, and a picture too (without the jacket, of course). (Thanks to Lorraine for that tip).

Kann jemand das definieren oder einen Hinweis geben?

What is a gesellschaftender Geschäftsführer? Is it the GmbH equivalent of a geschäftsführender Gesellschafter in an OHG? Whence the verb gesellschaften?

My money is on owner-director, or maybe shareholder and director (shareholder in a GmbH is a bit translatorese but very common) but of course one likes to understand things before translating them (this isn’t my translation, fortunately, but a query from another translator).

I read that a director can but need not be a member of a GmbH, but that is a weird adjective. Has it been communicated to the German language watchdogs?

LATER NOTE: The colleague’s client replied to the question, ‘Zum Thema gesellschaft. Geschäftsführer oder geschäftsführender Gesellschafter muss ich mich leider geschlagen geben. Meiner Meinung nach gibt es nur letzteren Begriff. Doch …. besteht auf Nutzung des ersten.’

Strafprozesse und andere Ungereimtheiten reports that the cat of nine tails was reintroduced in the Bahamas some years ago and is to be used (it’s only for ‘egregious’ cases).

Zu 16 Jahren Gefängnis ist Altulus Newbold auf den Bahamas verurteilt worden. Er hat versucht, eine 83-jährige Frau zu vergewaltigen. Dem Richter waren die 16 Jahre nicht genug: Er verurteilte den 34-Jährigen zusätzlich zu acht Schlägen mit der neunschwänzigen Katze, einem Folterinstrument aus dem 18. Jahrhundert. Newbold brach in das Haus seines 83-jährigen Opfers ein und versuchte es zu vergewaltigen. Die Frau wehrte sich jedoch erfolgreich – es gelang ihr, die Genitalien des Täters mit einem Schlag zu verletzen.

The source was KronenZeitung, where there is a picture. English account here.

Altulus Newbold is a name with a ring to it.

Wikipedia says nine tails is not the only number met, but a thick rope consists of three three-strand thin ropes, so nine is a likely number. It also informs on terms like the captain’s daughter, reduced cat, and boy’s pussy (I don’t think this one would work in AmE). It also explains the expressions not enough room to swing a cat and letting the cat out of the bag.

The still-popular sailor’s song What do you do with a Drunken Sailor? has a verse that goes “Give him a taste of the captain’s daughter” or “Throw him in bed with the captain’s daughter”. While this doesn’t sound like a dire fate for the tipsy seaman, the term “captain’s daughter” referred in naval jargon to the cat o’ nine tails or a similar whip.

It was reinstated in the Bahamas in 1991, in Antigua and Barbuda in 1990, in Barbados in 1993, in Trinidad in 1993 and in Jamaica in 1994.