I was investigating some Dutch language information websites this evening, and I came across this rather interesting one, Omniglot, which among other things provides some 'useful Dutch phrases'. The phrase 'my hovercraft is full of eels' was given in this list. It made me wonder (with tongue firmly in cheek) what kind of a place the Netherlands must be if that is a useful phrase. Certainly hovercrafts must be fairly common, and eels plentiful in the places where hovercrafts are used. And it must be the sort of place where you could say this to someone and they would be filled with sympathy. And perhaps there is also some well-known traditional Dutch method of ridding hovercrafts and other vessels from the slimy creatures which the addressee would immediately set to work to effect, to help you rid your hovercraft of eels. Well, at least I know I'll be well prepared for that contingency next time I visit the Netherlands!
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I can help you with the Dutch language and its quirks...
ReplyDeleteUmmm the phrases my hovercraft is full of eels comes from a comedy sketch which centres around a badly translated hungarian phrase book, and shows the way a simpe tranlsation without knowing context is never a good idea. So the term is a way of taking that comedy sketch further and you'll find 'my hovercraft is full of eels' translated into many other languages ion the internet.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Jonathan. I'm well aware of the origins of the phrase - note the 'tongue in cheek' comment in the original post. Just having a bit of fun with the principle of the relationship between language and culture ;)
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