• thesporkeffect@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    And yet when I try to SPRICH DEUTCH to actual live Germans they give me a pitying look and firmly reply in perfect English

      • TipRing@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Only because of their exacting standards. Even when I lived in Germany in the 90s the only time I had trouble understanding someone speaking English was when our realtor was trying to be racist but didn’t know the English words.

          • TipRing@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            See, that is what I mean. Nobody speaks “perfect” English, not even native speakers, because languages are not prescriptive. Their function is to communicate ideas and if you have successfully communicated then you have used language “perfectly”.