I’m very happy to post this next entry.
One of my readers, Christina — better known in the comments as “junior alien” — has been reading this blog for quite some time. She is from Germany and she’s a fan of the English language, especially of the errors found in advertisements and street signs.
So, what did she do?
She started the German version of The Grammar Vandal — Sprachvandali. Check it out!
I know a little German — and he’s sitting over there! Badum-ching!
Seriously, though, even after living with a German girl for almost a year and traveling to the Jungfrau region of Switzerland, my German is limited to danke schoen, prost and lederhosen. (Thank you very much, cheers and funny traditional German garb for men.)
Check it out!
Thanks to Christina for reading my site and being lovely enough to create her own grammar blog!
The Grammar Vandal 
Oh, wow! Thanks, Kate, for the honor! That will encourage me to keep it up. As you can see, I haven’t been posting a lot recently, because teaching, handling the kids and doing the household practically don’t allow me to spend more time on clearing up grammatical crimes, German section.
I especially hate the stupid language used in ads, so that’s where most of the pictures on my blog come from.
I also can’t stand the uncritical overuse of English words in the German language. It’s just a small step between overuse and overdose – the way I see it! But as Germany became an American colony after World War II, it is clear that German ads are stuffed with English-American words and slogans that make us feel so hip, because that’s how you Americans are, right?
(And vee Chermans haf noh humor.)
Of course, you know more German words than just the ones mentioned: e.g. kindergarten, angst, schadenfreude, schmalz … Practically all the words concerning computers and the internet have been taken over from English and are now part of the German language.
I have also been thinking of posting biligually, but haven’t made up my mind on how exactly to realize it.
Anyway, I really enjoy sharing language concerns without bounds!
I’m glad, Christina!
There is a great song in the musical Avenue Q called “Schadenfreude.” The show is hilarious — it’s like an R-rated version of Sesame Street. Other songs are called “The Internet is for Porn” and “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.”
Kate – I LOVE The Grammar Vandal, even though you seem more like a Grammar Champion.
Even more, I love the German Grammar Vandal – Ausgezeichnet! Having lived and taught conversational English for four years in Hamburg, I gained a new appreciation and understanding for both languages.
Interestingly, my fondness for Shakespeare grew as well since the construction of Middle English is similar to German.
Keep up the great work! When it comes time to vote for the institution of the Grammar Offender Database — to keep our children safely away from such deviats — I’ll be the first one in line, especially if they condone public flogging for those who insist on saying things like, “If I was…” in the protasis of their conditional sentences.
Cheers.
I am kind of wondering about your banner up there. The “joy of everyday” part.
It seems to be red-marked as if the editor wants it to read “every day.”
I know that could be correct. But it could also work just fine the way it is if “everyday” is an adjective, right? And the words kind of artistically fade away there so that we don’t know for sure.
It could be “Experience the joy of every day” or something like that. Then, two words is right, just like your editing marks!
But what if it were “the joy of everyday life” or something along those lines? Then it’d be correct, and the red correction pen would be wrong.
IF, in fact, I am reading that banner and its edits correctly! Which might not be the case. 🙂
But I thought I’d point it out, since either way, it seems to be a fairly weak and vague statement on such a cool site. I just think you could find a better example that’s definitely wrong and strengthen the case.
Or — I could be making all kinds of assumptions here. Maybe you already know this, thankyouverymuch. Or you already had a discussion over it. If so, I’m sorry I missed it.
🙂
Glad you enjoyed your time away!