Fremdkörper

Posted on October 01, 2003 @ 23:13 in Blogosphere

I just posted a comment in English to a German language weblog. I read German just fine, but with all those cases and conjugations, I don't dare write it anymore, afraid that I will make just too many mistakes. I didn't want to comment on that post at first, because it feels kind of rude to just enter a conversation using another language. However, Thomas, the weblog's author, took the conversation to the English speaking AoIR mailinglist and when I replied there, he asked me to post my reply to his blog so he would have all the replies in one place.

So, I wonder, is there an etiquette for posting to "other language" weblogs, because right now I kind of feel like a Fremdkörper.

Comments and Trackbacks

  1. Frank,

    thanks for posting. Your contribution is of value. And: I understand my blog as international (and my Ego as well) thus thanks for making it.

    Posted by Thomas N. Burg on October 01, 2003 @ 23:17

  2. is there an etiquette? yes: consideration by the readers. post politely and expect the same returned.

    it's a *world* wide web, which is quite wonderful. hurrah for those of you with the courage to make it so.

    in an english forum i frequent one of the chaps in china actually gets by using a translation engine. since the topic is technical, this makes getting to the point at little interesting sometimes, but he's always worthwhile.

    so... the fish translates fremdkörper as "foreign body". somehow i suspect there's more to it than that. is there an overtone like with gaijin?

    Posted by owen on October 02, 2003 @ 07:21

  3. Indeed, Fremdkörper literally means foreign body. I am not aware of any under- or overtones of the word that would resonate with those of gaijin. More generally though, a Fremdkörper is something out of place, something/someone not belonging.

    Posted by Frank on October 02, 2003 @ 09:34

Post a comment

Comments and trackbacks have been closed on this site. My apologies.

Since MT-Blacklist inexplicably stopped working I had no other recourse than close comments and trackbacks to stop the spam. I've been meaning to correct this for quite a while, but life got in the way... in a good way I should add.