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In reply to the discussion: Hypothetically, if you had to live in any other country, where would you go and why? [View all]DFW
(59,662 posts)If you can read German, learning to read Dutch is an easy adjustment. It's sort of like trying to read Republicanese*--it's basically the same language with messed up grammar and spelling. But speaking it is like trying to understand spoken Danish if all you know is Swedish or Norwegian. Written out, it's 98% the same language. Spoken, it might as well be Albanian.
* In case you're not familiar with Republicanese, here is a quick introduction:
EXCERPTS FROM THE OFFICIAL DICTIONARY OF REPUBLICANESE
In Republicanese, many words that sound alike may be spelled differently at random. A few prominent examples:
In Republicanese, the following words may be spelled at random using any of the three ways given:
A.) Two, Too, To
B.) Their, They're, There
c.) Your, Yore, You're
The Republicanese version of Robin Hood therefore starts with "In days of you're...."
The only rule is that the correct use of them as in English is never permitted twice in a row.
Words with single letters that change meaning when that letter is doubled must never be used in correct English context. The classic example is lose vs. loose. In Republicanese, if you do not win an election, then you loose that election. Conversely, if your (Republicanese: youre) belt is too tight, you need it more lose in order to be comfortable. Another example would be the Republicanese, I met Donald Trump, and he was rudder than I imagined, vs. I grabbed the ruder and was able to steer the boat to shore.
In Republicanese, as opposed to English, an apostrophe is used to form a plural. But it must be done at random, never systematically. For example, Bill and Hillary are "the Clinton's," but Bill, Chelsea and Hillary are "the Clintons." The other way around is also correct. In Republicanese, either form is correct as long as it is not spelled the same way twice in a row.
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PS--I often see people on DU using the Republicanese way of forming a plural. E.g. "We Democrat's believe...." or "I like to keep three cat's in my house," etc. Since there is no school in the English-speaking world that has ever taught a kid to use an apostrophe to form a plural, I assume they do it to make their posts more comprehensible to visiting Republican trolls as a courtesy. It's a kind gesture, but it sometimes confuses people who don't know any other language than English. Besides, a Republican will never thank you for it, since they don't know the difference.