Hey Mike!

[The Master68]

What does "Scheiza" mean? I heard it in 2 german movies...



Well 1 german movie (Christiane f) with Natja Brunkhorst and one american movie with Franka Potente (Bourne Identity)..



I'm sure it's a bad word of some kind..

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When you argue with a fool, be sure he isn't similarly occupied...

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Music - Organismo Cibernetico (Cybernetic Organism)

[MIKE BURN]

The word you mean is correctly spelled



"Scheiße"



and means simply "shit"



So basically a bad word but also useful :LOL

[droolymutt]

hahaha...........







I mistakenly said that word in front of Mike's Family last summer.....





I thought it meant something like "wow".........





I almost died of embarrassment when he told me what it meant.....

[The Master68]

What is that B looking letter?

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When you argue with a fool, be sure he isn't similarly occupied...

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Music - Organismo Cibernetico (Cybernetic Organism)

[MIKE BURN]

Well, we Germans use some letters you don't find on your keyboard like "ä, Ä, ö, Ö, ü and Ü".......



......and of course the sharp "S" we spell "ß".



We have a smooth "S" which is pronounced like the English

"S" in the word "lines" and a very harsh "S" we call "S-ZET",

spell it "ß" , split it as "s-s" (or double "s", i.e. "Scheis-(cr)-se) and for which there's no similiar sound in the English language.

[droolymutt]

To pronounce it... - it's kind of a cross between an "s" and a "z"....





I think..

[MIKE BURN]

For English ears it may be a cross between "z" and "s", but actually it's pronounced much harder.



A "ß" also influences how you pronounce a whole word.



For example "Schatten" (engl. "shadow") is pronounced in a way where the "SCH" is very similiar and smoothly pronounced like the "sh" in "shadow", while you pronounce "Scheiße" like "shhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaayyyyyyszszszszszszzsza" and "bend" the "SCH" syllable because of the "ß"



Another example for syllable extension in combination with a "ß" would be the word "Haß" (engl. "hate"). Because of the "ß" and the overall negative meaning of the word you extend the "h" and breathe long "Hhhhhhhhhhassszszzzszszszszz".

[droolymutt]

Ahhh....



I love learning about other languages.....







Something is so fascinating about being able to communicate in other tongues... or cultures.....





I think you speak 5 or 6 languages, Mike...?







I can only get by in 2.....





I'd love to learn Italian...

[MIKE BURN]

Drooly, I think I'm more or less fluent in 5 languages (German, French, English, Spanish and Italian) and can communicate more or less in Turkish and Arabic



However I have the advantage as a European that many cultures and languages "meet on the streets" and I need for example only a 45 minutes drive and I'm in Strasbourg/France



In Switzerland (Basel is 2 1/2 hours from where I live which is Frankfurt) you can drive only 20 minutes and you switch from German to Italian, to French and on the other side of the road in some lost valleys to the so called "Rhaeto-romanic" or "Le rhéto-roman" which is a derivate of the original old Latin language of the Romans.



So as a European I am forced to learn other languages and do have the chance to meet "sparring" partners in almost every public place.

[droolymutt]

Montreal is very "multicultural" and "multilingual" also, Mike....





It's one of the most ethnically mixed cities in North America...







(Which is why I chose to spend my life here....)







However, I envy your position in Europe....



The depth of European culture has so many generations behind it, whereas we in North America are such a melting pot....





We're so new,... - we don't have those solid roots that Europeans have....





Well, there's good and bad on both sides....





N'est pas?

[The Master68]

ScheiBe...



I'm stuck in the south.

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When you argue with a fool, be sure he isn't similarly occupied...

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Music - Organismo Cibernetico (Cybernetic Organism)

[MIKE BURN]

HAHA! At least you have taste in German actors



Franka Potente looks a bit like "Pink" in her movie "Lola rennt"

Isn't it?

[The Master68]

I saw that in the theater...



Run, Lola, RUN!!



heh

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When you argue with a fool, be sure he isn't similarly occupied...

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Music - Organismo Cibernetico (Cybernetic Organism)

[MIKE BURN]

Renn, Lola, renn !

[The Master68]

Does she still do German movies? Or has she gone Hollywood and shit, after "Bourne Identity"?



It sucked that she got capped in "Bourne Supremacy"...

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When you argue with a fool, be sure he isn't similarly occupied...

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Music - Organismo Cibernetico (Cybernetic Organism)