2018 FIFA World Cup

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Certainly not in any culinary way.

Many years ago in Political Science class at the U of M the old stereotype joke was:

Definition of HEAVEN:
Chefs = French
Administrators = German
Police = English

Definition of HELL:
Chefs = English
Administrators = Italian
Police = German

Levity gentlemen, no offense is intended.

I think it's pretty accurate...

German administrators could be Hell too though. They over administer everything.

 

[rochie]

That chef bit is wholly unacceptable and innaccurate !

 

[GrauGeist]

 

[The Basket]

I'm still trying to figure out who actually is jealous of England as a whole in anything.

Anyone here feel jealous of England in any way?

A red rag to a bull if ever there was one.
But I will do the English thing an keep a stiff upper lip.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Heck that's easy, Kate Beckinsale and Elizabeth Hurley!

 

[Smokey Stover]

"Hooliganism" happens quite a bit here in the US actually between rival fans of NFL teams. I've seen it first hand many times at games here in the states. People even get shot in the parking lots, and stabbed in the bathrooms.

It just does not happen on the "mass level" as it does in Europe with organized groups of Hooligans.

As for atmosphere, as much as I love the NFL, I'll take the atmosphere of a European football stadium over it any day. The fans of European football celebrate and chear tgeir teams on better. Everyone is singing, large groups of people have drums and flags, the stadium is shaking from jumping up and down. You don't have that at NFL stadiums. At least not during the several dozen NFL games I have been to, or when I watch NFL every weekend on Sunday Ticket.

I miss going to Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart games, and Champions League games, as well as National Team games. Went and saw Italy play Germany back in 2001. Italy won 2:1, but damn was it a fun time, and great atmosphere.

Wow, really? That surprises me, although as i said i have only experienced one game. But you are absolutely right about the atmosphere and crowd excitement in soccer. First match i ever went to was at Villa park (Back when the Holte end was standing room only before all seater stadiums) At that time the Holte end was the biggest home stand behind the goal in Europe. People always used to go on about the Kop at Liverpool, but it was nothing compared to Villa parks main stand. I was just blown away by the sheer noise and so many people singing so loudly you could literally feel the vibration & adrenaline through the body. Back in the days of Nigel Spink, Paul Mcgrath and David Platt. I watched quite a few games during Euro '96'. My best mate worked in the ticket office at Villa and would sneak me in just after kick off. Seen so many top players over the years and been to wembley twice. The league cup win over Man utd in '94' was probably the best game of my life as we were complete underdogs. Man utd had Cantona, Giggs, Hughes, Keane, all the top players. But Dalian Atkinson and Dean Saunders scored goals and Mark Bosnich made some last minute super saves. The second league cup final two years later against Leeds just wasnt the same even though we won again. Sadly missed out on a FA cup though, losing to Chelsea. I've seen games in Spain, Germany, Italy and Holland. Craziest game i ever went to was in Turkey where they beheaded a live goat before the game as some kind of goodluck ritual. Absolutely bizarre and the fans were more than a little intimidating! I dont think there is any sport that quite captures the spirit and passion of football. It is after all the beautiful game....

 

[Smokey Stover]

Ah, but the English language is a Germanic language...

No thats the royal family your thinking of. They changed their last name in 1914/15 so not to appear Germanic, even though they are all related anyway. I have no problem with foreign countries despite a little banter. But when it comes to royalty im about as anti as a person can be. They are egotistical, outdated, parasites that should be thrown out onto the streets to fend for themselves like the rest of us have to. And as patriotic as i am, i just wish England would change the national anthem. Singing praise and blessing to one person over an entire country just seems inherently wrong to me.....

 

[pbehn]

No thats the royal family your thinking of. They changed their last name in 1914/15 so not to appear Germanic, even though they are all related anyway. I have no problem with foreign countries despite a little banter. But when it comes to royalty im about as anti as a person can be. They are egotistical, outdated, parasites that should be thrown out onto the streets to fend for themselves like the rest of us have to. And as patriotic as i am, i just wish England would change the national anthem. Singing praise and blessing to one person over an entire country just seems inherently wrong to me.....

English is a Germanic language, if you live there and listen to them speaking local dialects "plat" you will understand, there is a reason British nationals are also called Anglo-Saxons.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

No thats the royal family your thinking of. They changed their last name in 1914/15 so not to appear Germanic, even though they are all related anyway. I have no problem with foreign countries despite a little banter. But when it comes to royalty im about as anti as a person can be. They are egotistical, outdated, parasites that should be thrown out onto the streets to fend for themselves like the rest of us have to. And as patriotic as i am, i just wish England would change the national anthem. Singing praise and blessing to one person over an entire country just seems inherently wrong to me.....

No, English is in fact a Germanic language. It originated from the Germanic Tribes that made their way north to your Island.

English language - Wikipedia

English is a Germanic language, if you live there and listen to them speaking local dialects "plat" you will understand, there is a reason British nationals are also called Anglo-Saxons.

Exactly. The Anglo-Saxons did not originate in England. They were German tribes who inhabited the island in the 5th century.

English and England derive their names from Anglia which is a peninsula in what is now Schleswig Holstein in northern Germany.

I love the history of languages!

 

[Marcel]

Don't forget they had a Dutch king for a while

 

[The Basket]

If England was Germanic as you state then they would have been knocked out in the group stage.
And what group were Holland in? What team did they play?
To call English a Germanic language is a gross over simplified concept.

 

[Marcel]

If England was Germanic as you state then they would have been knocked out in the group stage.
And what group were Holland in? What team did they play?
To call English a Germanic language is a gross over simplified concept.

You mean the last two worldcups?

 

[parsifal]

Maybe german is a simplified predecessor to English?

 

[The Basket]

To say to a linguist that German and English are the same is like saying to an engineer that the Wright Flyer and a 747 are the same. Well kinda.....
It may be easy to knock England but let's face it, every country is open to abuse....I literally could go on all day! And I would enjoy it too.but I won't because I don't want to go down that rabbit hole.

 

[Marcel]

To say to a linguist that German and English are the same is like saying to an engineer that the Wright Flyer and a 747 are the same. Well kinda.....
It may be easy to knock England but let's face it, every country is open to abuse....I literally could go on all day! And I would enjoy it too.but I won't because I don't want to go down that rabbit hole.

Ah I see, so Dutch is the 787 of the languages then.

 

[pbehn]

If England was Germanic as you state then they would have been knocked out in the group stage.
And what group were Holland in? What team did they play?
To call English a Germanic language is a gross over simplified concept.

Holland is also a region of south Lincolnshire which like most of East Anglia Marcel would recognise because it was drained and built on by the same people the churches there are similar to those in Netherlands. To fuse the German spoken by the Anglo Saxons in England with the French spoken by the Normans it was necessary to forget about rules of masculine-feminine-neuter and formal-informal. This resulted in a language that is easy to learn a little of and be understood but also one that is almost impossible to ever learn perfectly, every translator I ever met had a question to ask me about English to clarify something or other.



Great Britain and Ireland - interactive county map of holland/base=outline/centre=52.859,-0.020/zoom=10

 

[Marcel]

Maybe german is a simplified predecessor to English?

Ever tried learning German?
"mit, nach, nebst, bei, zeit, from, zu....."

German is for complicated people, English is for simple people, while Dutch is the language of kings.
"
William III (Dutch: Willem; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702),[2] also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672 and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II.[3] He is sometimes informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy".[4] "

 

[pbehn]

To speak Dutch it is necessary to contract a throat infection, (a German guy told me) Seriously the pronunciation is so different to English it does make the muscles in my throat hurt trying to get it right. the Chinese/Japanese have the same problem with all European languages.

 

[Marcel]

Yeah, you're right, Dutch is for real men

OT: What's the prediction for tonight? Belgium - France? I say 2 - 0

 

[pbehn]

Yeah, you're right, Dutch is for real men

OT: What's the prediction for tonight? Belgium - France? I say 2 - 0

Rumours that Mbappe is not 100% fit. Betting calls it almost exactly even, if Mbappe plays I think it will go to penalties 2-2 after extra time. If not Belgium to win 2-1