Thank you Jenna. You know we have our own misquoted bakery-oriented pronouncement, right?
On June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech that electrified an adoring crowd gathered in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. As he paid tribute to the spirit of Berliners and to their quest for freedom, the crowd roared with approval upon hearing the the President’s dramatic pronouncement, “Ich bin ein Berliner”
The problem with the National Archives’ translation of that dramatic phrase is that it’s not technically correct German. What the President should have said is, “Ich bin Berliner.” What he actually said in front of a whole lot of people was, “I am a jelly doughnut”. That distinction belongs to another, squishier member of the family.
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(By the way, the Exeter University “Beginners’ German” website calls the doughnut story an “urban myth”, since JFK’s German translator gave him the exact phrase; however, I’m going by what my own professors told me in college, and even this site does ‘fess up at the end:
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We would still recommend omitting the definite article when describing your profession and where you live. You should nevertheless be aware that native Germans who include the article are not trying to indicate that they are nutty as a fruitcake. Or a jelly donut. Or a hamburger for that matter.
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I’ll stand with Frau Doktor Wannamaker.? It’s a better story.)
