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Do You Know A Little German? by Mermoz Do you know a little German? He's sitting over there! There's a little German, a little French, a little Latin and a little Yiddish, and a whole lot of gibberish in TOP SECRET!
What they found is something you might have suspected even if you only know a little German: a made-up language that sounds like German if you don't know any, but is actually a mixture of common German words, German-sounding "words", and English words with German endings on them. If you don't know German, it sounds like German, and if you do know German, it sounds like gibberish! If you only know a little German, you can usually figure out that it's a joke. Take Nick River's language tape: "Eine Blitzen : a pen. Eine Flachmetuchen: a table." "Ein Blitz" is German for lightning bolt, and "blitzen" is the German verb "to flash." (Most people are at least familiar with the World War II term "Blitzkrieg" and know it has nothing to do with a pen.) The German for "pen" is "Der Stift." The German for "table" is "Der Tafel." "Eine Flachmetuchen" is not German, but according to Angela is some invented compound word that has German parts ("flach" = flat; "Tuch" = tablecloth), and so is probably meant to mean "a flat thing with a tablecloth on it." It's a joke, and sometimes once you explain a joke, it doesn't seem as funny. "Wir haben Pflichtmitten in der Heineplatz. : There is sauerkraut in my Lederhosen." The English is obviously the wrong translation because the words "sauerkraut" and "lederhosen" are both words that are the same in English as in German. The real German translation would be "We have [????] in Heine Square. Heine is a German poet. "Pflichmitten" doesn't mean anything in German. "Naechtlich mit der Stall, in der Buergerplatz. : I want a schnauser with my Wienerschnitzel." Again, the "translation" is an obvious joke, because "schnauser" and "weinerschnitzel" are again two words that are the same in English as in German. The real German translation would be "Nightly with the stable, in the city square." At the beginning Nick may merely suffer from bad pronunciation, as when he says "Ist Ihre tagten achten, bitte?" when the correct German is "Ist Ihre Tochter achtzehn, bitte?" But he graduates to true German-sounding gibberish when he says what sounds like "Wirkallvarmen Guten Morgen Listen." He claims to have told the German Commander that "I'd put his name on the Montgomery Ward mailing list," but the first word (or words) is gibberish, "Guten Morgen" is German for "good morning" and "Listen" is the English word "list" with the German ending "en" added to it. Although the speech before Nick is presented with the key to the city is pretty much the same as the subtitles, none of the rest of the subtitled German is. The "East German National Anthem" is German-sounding gibberish, and so is the exchange between Hillary and the waiter in the hotel. For instance, she starts by saying to him "Was recommenden" which sounds like "What do you recommend" if you know a little German, because you know that "Was" is German for "What" and "recommend" is English, but logically, of course, the German word would be "recommenden," because a lot of German verbs end in "en." However, the German for "What do you recommend?" is "Was empfehlen Sie?"
In the generator house at Flogendorf prison, the label on the switch for the electric fence says "Das fencen switchen" which is the German word "das" (the) with the English words "fence" and "switch" both with "en" endings added to make them seem German. If you know a little German you'll get the joke. The real German for "the fence switch" is "Der Zaunschalter." The creation of fake German for the movie even leads to "germanifying" English words that are the same! The calendar in Professor Flammond's prison cell is labeled "Septhausen," which you might think is the German for "September," but the German for "September" is "September." Some of the place names are sort of German. The name of the station, "Ver-Vase," could if pronounced aloud be considered to be related to the German word "verwesen" - "to rot." Angela thinks this might be a reference to a West German saying of the seventies and eighties (before the wall was torn down in 1989) "I would not like to rot there in the East," which means "I would not like to be there even if I were dead." The name of the hotel where Nick is staying is the hotel "Gey Schluffen," which is a distorted version of the German phrase "Geh Shlafen," "go to bed." There is some real German in TOP SECRET!, hidden in the background, mostly. For instance, when the train leaves the station (or as shown the movie, the station leaves the train) , the announcer says: "Der Zug, der jetzt an Gleis drei steht, hat uns alle ueberrannt." Which means, "The train that is now at platform 3, has run over us all. And after the shot at the blind man you can hear the following German in the background: "is ja 'ne blode Situation - is ja unmoglich - jetzt kommt der Wagen - das is ja 'ne blode Situation" which means "that's a stupid situation - that's impossible - now the car arrives - that's a stupid situation" When Nick is being interrogated at the prison, General Streck says "Make sure they leave no marks," and von Horst responds, "Ich liebe Dich, mein Schatz." Which means " I love you, my darling." When the German officer picks up the giant phone, he hears, "Sind schon weg, Du, Du dummes Arschloch!" Which means, "They are already gone, you, you stupid a**hole!" Even the little horse sings in real German when he sings, "[Du, Du] liegst mir im Herzen, Du, Du, liegst mir im Sinn. Du, Du machst mir viel Schmerzen, weisst nicht wie gut ich Dir bin. Ja, ja, ja, ja, weisst nicht wie gut ich Dir bin." Which means "(You, you) are in my heart, you, you, are in my mind. You, you give me a lot of pain, you don't know how attached to you I am. Yes, yes, yes, yes, you don't know how attached to you I am." Whether or not you already know a little German, you're unlikely to learn more by watching TOP SECRET! But� find out if you do know a little German by taking this QUIZ. Many thanks to Frido, Angela and Hilda for their assistance with this article. |
