Re: YAPT: Dutch ij and ui

Tristan Mc Leay wrote at 2004-07-23 21:34:38 (+1000)
 > Carsten Becker wrote:
 >
 > > Hello!
 > >
 > > My parents decided the day before yesterday's noon
 >
 >
 > 'The day before yesterday's noon' is the same day as the day before
 > yesterday at 10 pee em. Do you mean something significant by that
 > phrase?
 >
 > > to visit the Netherlands the other day. When reading the road
 > > signs, we weren't sure
 >
 >
 > You know how confused you made me here? When I finally worked out
 > that you meant you not only decided to visit another country, but
 > *you did it* within a few days, perhaps even hours, I decided that
 > I have to hate you. I can't visit another country without getting
 > on a plane or boat (or swimming). In future, I expect you to have a
 > considerable body of water between you and the nearest
 > country. (Note to Brits: The English Channel is not 'a considerable
 > body of water', and even if it were, Britain's too small to count
 > as a country.) Well, hahahaha, one day the European Union will be a
 > country just like the United States of America or the Commonwealth
 > of Australia (except that it'll still be close to Asia and
 > Africa...).
 >

If Britain's to small to qualify as a country, then clearly Carsten
didn't, in fact, visit another country, since what he visited is even
smaller.  So no need to hate him.

 > > BTW, it was a nice sunny (and very warm) day. We visited the
 > > historical centres of Gouda and Leiden and had a quick look at
 > > the shore promenade of Scheweningen, but there were too many
 > > people and it was too hot and everything was far too
 > > expensive. My legs hurt when we were at home again, and I was
 > > quite tired. Nevertheless, it was a nice day and I could get a
 > > glimpse at (of?) the Netherlands.
 >
 >
 > of
 >

"of" was my first reaction too, but on introspection I actually think
"at" might be better in this case... I'm not really sure, though.  It
should be "got" or "was able to get" rather than "could get", I think.

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