Tuesday, June 23, 2009



German accent now incorrect

Not allowed to refer to the fact that the Nazis were German?
"The Conservative leader used a discussion about his opposition to ID cards to do what appeared to be an impression of a Nazi officer. Adopting an exaggerated German accent, he asked the crowd 'Where are your papers?'

The joke was supposed to be a comment on the draconian nature of the ID card scheme. But it drew gasps from listening voters at the question and answer session in Norwich, and did not quite yield the response he was going for. Critics fear it could even trigger an embarrassing diplomatic row between the would-be Prime Minister and Germany.

A woman in the audience raised her hand and asked him: 'I wonder about the wisdom of you adopting a German accent?'

Mr Cameron's patronising response was worthy of the notoriously offensive hotel boss in the 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers - in the iconic scene where he addresses German guests - explaining to her: 'It was meant to be light-hearted.'

Source

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Offensive? Perhaps, but he did make the point. But what is definitely offensive is people who are always offended.

Anonymous said...

If I had been in her position I would have simply replied:

Ah so Mr Camelon, you remind me of numba run son! He ris numa ten plick.

But obviously the woman has no sense of humour.

Anonymous said...

Major doses of Thorazine should be made mandatory for all Brits.

InFides said...

Hello Good Gentles All!

Glad to be back. I hope all of you have fared well.

This posting reminds me of an experience I had when working on a project in Germany.

I was working with a German collegue (who had a marvelous but sometimes dark sense of humor) and we had been at the computer for quite a while. I was tired and having trouble focusing so I removed my glasses and rubbed my eyes and sat quietly for a moment.

My collegue asked me if I was OK. I told him that I was having trouble concentrating. He replied, "Don't worry, we have places where you can concentrate." Very funny.

I suppose these days he would probably be arrested, given the European penchant for criminalizing speech. As it was we both just laughted.

I bid you all peace,

InFides

Anonymous said...

Ahh, the good old days, when free speech was more than just a catchy phrase and people were free to actually speak their mind.

Anonymous said...

sounds obamaian