Re: OT: passport languages

Quoting Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...>:

>  --- Andreas Johansson skrzypszy:
>
> > > > Really? Is there an official language at all?
> > >
> > > Nope.  There've been proposals to make English the official language,
> > > and there are some states with English as an official language, but the
> > > US itself has no official language; altho, of course, English is
> > > somewhat of a de facto main language.
> >
> > Is anyone advocating Dutch as official language?
>
> Hehe. I would lóve to hear Joris W. Bos addressing the nation like this:
> "Geliefde mede-Amerikanen! Vijftien minuten geleden heeft het Amerikaanse
> leger
> een frontale aanval geopend op Irak. [...] De dagen van de dictator zijn
> geteld!"
I can't seem to remember that particular speech, so I'll try to retranslate:

"Belowed fellow Americans! Fifteen minutes ago, the American coalition(?)
launched a frotnal assault on Iraq. [...] The days of the dictator are
counted!"

_Leger_ looks like Sw _läger_ "camp", which like the English word can refer
figuratively to a faction or side in a conflict. I'm guess this is also true
for the Dutch word, hence the tentative translation "coalition".

                                                 Andreas

Reply