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Today's quote:

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Want to know why I left Germany?

 

Having served my articles with the insurance company "Hamburg-Bremer Feuerversicherungsaktiengesellschaft", I was well used to German compound nouns - although good-looking Trixie has come up with a real doozie - but what really pissed me off was the constant handshaking.

You shook hands with everyone when you got to work, and you shook hands with everyone again before you left. Add all that time to what was already a 50-hour week (half-days on Saturday), and you begin to understand why I enjoy the casual informality we practise in Australia.

Strangely, in recent days we've gone all Gallic (or should that be garlic?) touchy-feely here and embrace and kiss each other like there were no infections tomorrow. I was scared of Germans; now I'm scared of germs.


www.tiny.cc/riverbendmap

 

P.S. I hope when watching the above video clip you kept your eyes firmly on the writing on the wall and didn't "do a Barnaby Joyce":

P.P.S. And, yes, you're right: the 'one minute long' German word could've done with a hyphen or two, just like this recent newspaper headline:

P.P.P.S. If you want to take extra lessons in how to make up German compound nouns, see here and here.