Today's Random Photo

I'm not up to posting much, but here's a photo I took at my local department store last week:


If the professor thing doesn't work out, this is a job I could like--coming up with wacky English product names to be used exclusively in the non-English-speaking world. No respectable German would buy a razor called the "Damenschützer" (or Damenbeschützer, or possibly Damenschutzherr, my dictionary wasn't being very helpful today), just as no American would buy a razor called a "Lady Protector."

While I find this funny on one hand, on the other hand it's sad. Everywhere you go in this city (and in this country) you come across English words and phrases. Cell phones are called "Handys," there's a bar in my neighborhood called "Singles' and Friends," and English words like "wellness" and "clever" are part of everyday speech. I'm sad that Germans don't appreciate their language and seem willing to let it be taken over. The French might be snooty, but at least they're not about to lose their linguistic heritage without a fight.