Re: Those crazy Germans ....
Purely off-topic banter with no technical content. The thread starts with a question about the German word "vertan" (translated by a native speaker as "mistaken", or sometimes "wasted"), used in connection with a cartoon joke about an anteater (IBM) unable to get at the ants (Informix users) who have fled to Microsoft and Oracle. The rest of the thread degenerates into pub-style jokes about dogs, foxes and lawyers. No technical problem is raised and nothing is resolved; skip unless you want the humour.
Auto-generated by DrWatson from the posts below — may be imperfect; read the full thread.
"Richard Spitz" <Richard.Spitz@med.uni-muenchen.de> wrote in message news:0c0f801vvt6gqfh7578p3l1rcqo6bgk589@4ax.com... > "David E. Grove" <david_grove@correct.state.ak.us> wrote: > > >Might anyone say what 'vertan' means? > > In this context, I'd translate it as "mistaken". Like > in the sentence "Ich habe mich vertan" = "I made a mistake". > > "Wasted" is a another possible translation of "vertan", like > "vertane Zeit" = "wasted time". However, as a native speaker, > this doesn't make as much sense to me. So, the ant-eater ("IBM") is confused and frustrated because he cannot understand why he cannot suck out the ants (Informix users) from the nest as he expects. We know - because we can see the bigger picture - but he doesn't, that the reason is that all the ants have left the nest for sanctuary ("Microsoft" and "Oracle"). Jokes are always best when analysed in great detail, aren't they?
> Jokes are always best when analysed in great detail, aren't they? P.S. What's the difference between a dog and a fox?
Reminds me of analysing Asterix & Kleopatra in high school. -- Serge Rielau DB2 SQL Compiler Development IBM Toronto Lab
Captain Pedantic wrote: >> Jokes are always best when analysed in great detail, aren't they? > > P.S. What's the difference between a dog and a fox? One is wild animal? -- Enor
Enor Mouspenis wrote: > Captain Pedantic wrote: > > >>>Jokes are always best when analysed in great detail, aren't they? >> >>P.S. What's the difference between a dog and a fox? > > > One is wild animal? > > -- > Enor About 8 pints....
"Clive Eisen" <clive@serendipita.com> wrote in message news:4087f5a3$0$31672$fa0fcedb@lovejoy.zen.co.uk... > > Captain Pedantic wrote: > >>P.S. What's the difference between a dog and a fox? > About 8 pints.... Well, about 5 in my case. But you have the idea .....!
Captain Pedantic wrote: > "Clive Eisen" <clive@serendipita.com> wrote in message > news:4087f5a3$0$31672$fa0fcedb@lovejoy.zen.co.uk... >> > Captain Pedantic wrote: > >> >>P.S. What's the difference between a dog and a fox? > >> About 8 pints.... > > Well, about 5 in my case. But you have the idea .....! Is englisch joke yes? -- Enor
"Captain Pedantic" <theharlequin36@hotmail.com> writes: >> Jokes are always best when analysed in great detail, aren't they? > > P.S. What's the difference between a dog and a fox? "What's the difference between a rooster and lawyer?" is a funnier joke. -- Forte International, P.O. Box 1412, Ridgecrest, CA 93556-1412 Ronald Cole <ronald@forte-intl.com> Phone: (760) 499-9142 President, CEO Fax: (760) 499-9152 My GPG fingerprint: C3AF 4BE9 BEA6 F1C2 B084 4A88 8851 E6C8 69E3 B00B