Yes, I really can rationalize anything.

[same_sky]

"Are you done laughing now?"
"Yes. At least until you read this sentence again."

Magnus and I had our first play-argument in Swedish tonight. It had to do with my desire, or lack thereof, to be barefoot, and why I would need to remove my socks to accomplish this. (Okay, so we weren't arguing philosophy or anything. But it's a start!) A while back, we decided that he should come up with sentences for me to translate. The first lesson was Swedish to English, and I finished those too quickly to suit him, so he decided I should translate English to Swedish, which I kinda suck at. That was in January, and I just got around to doing them last night, and he came up with a new set of sentences. (About fifteen of them.) Instead of writing them and going over them afterwards, I did them aloud. So I'd painfully translate (my pronounciation is by far the weakest part of my "skills") and then he'd make me repeat the sentences until I did them correctly. Or at least, without hesitation between each word. We both decided it was a good lesson, though, so I guess it was worth it.

I can see his point when he laughs at me. I can imagine how funny it would be if he said things like "Bob are baster tin Yoe to snowboarding" instead of "Bob is better than Joe at skating." (Okay, that example lacked creativity, but it's late and I've been sleepy since afternoon.) But that doesn't stop it from sucking! :) I really, honestly don't take it personally anymore, but I still remember the very first time he laughed at me, and by golly, I did then. We were newly an official real-life couple, and I was learning words and phrases as a whim and a way to pass the time online after our first meeting. I said, "Jag saknar du." and he GIGGLED at me. Can you imagine?! (I miss you, with the wrong form of the "you" pronoun.) Obviously, this made somewhat of an impression at the time because now it's four years later and I'm still moaning about it.

Anyway, I feel his pain, but now, after said discussion, I have decided that my hubby wubby is mean in his native language. This has suddenly made me realize that this is probably the real reason he married me. He can say mean things to me without me noticing, whereas a nice sensible Swedish girl would kick him in the shins when he started mumbling about barefootedness. So therefore, it has occured to me that learning any more Swedish would be detrimental to my marriage and thus, I must stop with all this practicing and endeavor to forget what I have learned. For the sake of the children. And the Democratic party. Really.

So. Any chance any of ya'll bought that? :)

Comments

[totte.livejournal.com]

Nope!

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Well. I guess if you promise that's not the real reason, I'll keep on with it. :p

[paradisecowgirl.livejournal.com]

Not a chance, missy!

I'll be answering your email tomorrow! :)

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Darnit. *giggle* I didn't think that would work, but I'm notorious for bitching at things I'm supposed to be studying/working on. Oh, well. :)

[carrieb.livejournal.com]

I think that sounds like a great reason to stop learning! Once I started learning Swedish I found out that Mike cusses like a sailor in his native language. That was quite a shock because he never curses in English. Weird.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's exactly it! Magnus curses in Swedish a LOT! He also has a completely different tone. It's so weird! That's part of my reason for wanting to learn, actually. I get depressed sometimes when I realize that there's a large part of him that I completely do not know/understand. :)

[gissa.livejournal.com]

Speaking of "meanie" husbands, I used to tease Ken by calling him a "meanie" till I looked up the swedish translation for it. The swedish translation dictionary said that meanie meant "snåljåp" translated as miserly and "knöl" which translates as cad. He must have thought I was really weird calling him a misery cad!

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

I still call Magnus a meanie.. oops. ;) Lately, I've been calling him "elak", which he translated as mean, but my dictionary calls evil, naughty and wicked. It's one of my favorite Swedish words, though.. I wonder what that says about me?! :)

[ozswede.livejournal.com]

Nice try, but it won't work! My hubby enjoys my terrible efforts at Swedish, but then I've packed up laughing at his Swedglish, so I figure I have to pay the price! My big attempt to curse in Swedish is still haunting me 2 years later. I said "dra på helvete", so now that is wheeled out on ALL occasions to illustrate my great command of Swedish. (hmm he's learning to tease like an Aussie)

And like Gloria, I've discovered that some innocent words in English can have darker connotations in Swedish.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

*snap* I thought it was a perfectly sensible rationale! ;)

I try to not curse too much in Swedish but Magnus is greatly proud of me when I do. He's so weird. :)

Still giggling

[totte.livejournal.com]

"Bob are baster tin Yoe to snowboarding" instead of "Bob is better than Joe at skating." Now it's tomorrow, and I still giggle like a smurf girl when I read that. Tremendously appropriate comparison, somehow.

Re: Still giggling

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

Your example was better but I couldn't remember it all. Glad you approve, though!

Jag saknar dig! :)