Authored by: Glen603 on Saturday, August 02 2008 @ 11:06 PM EDT

Are you a fan of Richard Lederer?  I told him and I'll tell you, what Kennedy said was perfectly correct: a person from Berlin is a Berlinner, just as some one from Frankfurt is a Frankfurter, from Hamburg a Hamburger and Munchin a Munchner.  What you're referring to is what in Berlin is called a "pfankuchen" (litterally transleted "pancake") which outside Berlin is called a Berlinner.  To be grammitcally correct, he should have said "Ich bin auch ein Berliner (I am also a Berliner).  Had he said "I'm a jelly donut', the crowd would have burst into laughter, not cheers.

[ # ]

Authored by: kbarrett on Sunday, August 03 2008 @ 12:59 PM EDT

Gee ... did I strike a nerve?

Good.

[ # ]

Authored by: TooMuchTime on Sunday, August 03 2008 @ 10:52 PM EDT

According to my high school German teacher, Kennedy misspoke.  He should have said, "Ich ein Berliner."  In English, we would say, "I am a New Yorker."  In German, the am is implicitly declared.  So, though while Kennedy was not technically incorrect, "Ich ein Berliner" is more correct.

[ # ]

Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, August 04 2008 @ 07:48 AM EDT

My German teacher and yours disagree.  In stating that one is a such-and-such, in German it is the indefinite article that is left out, and not the verb.  Correct German for "I am a Berliner" is "Ich bin Berliner."

[ # ]

Authored by: TooMuchTime on Monday, August 04 2008 @ 11:07 AM EDT

You know, you're right.  It's been over 30 years since I took that class.  I'm even lucky to remember that I took high school German!

[ # ]

Authored by: Technomad on Monday, August 11 2008 @ 12:18 AM EDT

Reinhold Aman (of Maledicta) also says that Kennedy's statement was perfectly correct.  And since he's a native German speaker with Fingerspitzengefuhl for the language, as well as an ex-teacher and ex-professor of German, I'll take his word for it.

[ # ]