Re: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN!!

On Sun, 4 Mar 2001, J Matthew Pearson wrote:

> Elliott Lash wrote:
>
> > Dear anyone with knowledge of German, please help!
> >
> > Du wir können doch gute Freunde bleiben*
> > hat sie zu mir gesagt, darauf hätte ich ihr am Liebsten
> > eine Kugel durch den Kopf gejagt!!!
>
> My German's a little rusty, but I'm pretty sure the meaning is,
> roughly:
>
>   "Listen, we can still remain good friends," she said to me.
>   Thereupon I would have most liked to shoot a bullet through the
> head.
Yes, that's how I would say that. And to be more exact: to shoot a bullet
through HER head. (That's because of the word 'ihr' which is in dative.)

> The first line is literally, "You, we can still remain good
> friends", but I think the extra "you" is intended to get the
> person's attention (kind of like "hey" or "listen" in English).
> "Jagen" is literally "drive" or "hunt", but since the line speaks
> of a bullet going through one's head, I'm sure the intended
> meaning is "shoot".
I agree with this.

> I can't tell from context whether the writer means he wants to
> shoot a bullet through his own head, or his beloved's head.
Look above.

> Matt.
Tero Vilkesalo

PS. I currently use here my old e-mail address with an old surname. If I
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