Vaguely related thought because I was reminded of this earlier: legend has it that German chancellor Helmut Kohl once told a foreign dignitary from an English-speaking country, in English: “You can say you to me.” Which is at least weird in English but the German equivalent is perfectly cromulent because we have two words for “you”: he was trying to signal friendship by offering the more familiar, friendly one.
Absurdly, a “correct” translation for what he was trying to say would’ve been: “Thou canst say thou to me.”
(Worth noting that the story is apocryphal - although there’s a cherished tradition of German politicians failing miserably at English)
Vaguely related thought because I was reminded of this earlier: legend has it that German chancellor Helmut Kohl once told a foreign dignitary from an English-speaking country, in English: “You can say you to me.” Which is at least weird in English but the German equivalent is perfectly cromulent because we have two words for “you”: he was trying to signal friendship by offering the more familiar, friendly one.
Absurdly, a “correct” translation for what he was trying to say would’ve been: “Thou canst say thou to me.”
(Worth noting that the story is apocryphal - although there’s a cherished tradition of German politicians failing miserably at English)
“Ich bin ein Berliner”