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"My hovercraft is full of eels" When I think of phrasebooks I think of Monty Python's Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook[1] sketch[2]. I've never been able to bring my
by Lio 4y ago
"My hovercraft is full of eels"
When I think of phrasebooks I think of Monty Python's Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook[1] sketch[2].
I've never been able to bring myself to trust them since first seeing it. :P
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Hungarian_Phrasebook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Hungarian_Phrasebook
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Sw0PDgHU4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Sw0PDgHU4
- AnotherGoodName 4y agoIt's pretty commonly known but this sketch has some inspiration from a real life phrase book "English as she is spoke". It was written by someone who did not speak English who used a Portugese->French and then a French->English dictionary to produce the phrasebook. Complete unintentional and amazing humor. In line with another great double translation masterpiece "Backstroke of the West" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_as_She_Is_Spoke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_as_She_Is_Spoke It's an amazing read. You can find it free online. >Mark Twain said of English as She Is Spoke "Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect." >Stephen Pile mentions this work in The Book of Heroic Failures and comments: "Is there anything in conventional English which could equal the vividness of 'to craunch a marmoset'?"[7] The original has "to craunch the marmoset", an entry under the book's "Idiotisms and Proverbs". This is the author's attempt to translate the French slang idiomatic expression croquer le marmot, used to indicate "waiting patiently for someone to open a door",[8] with croquer referring to the "knocking" or "rapping" sound, and marmot, a term for the grotesque door knockers in vogue at the time.