Path: utzoo!attcan!ontmoh!peter
From: peter@ontmoh.UUCP (Peter Renzland)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: OS/2 vs. Unix (Pferdeapfel auf die Birne)
Summary: Doof bleibt doof da helfen keine Pillen und keine kalten Umschlaege
Keywords: DBDDHKPUKKU
Message-ID: <631611399.8913@ontmoh.UUCP>
Date: 6 Jan 90 07:36:39 GMT
References: <3501@cbnewsl.ATT.COM>
Followup-To: rec.humour.less
Organization: Ontario Ministry of Health -- Decision Support, Toronto, Canada
Lines: 22

rommel@lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de (Kai-Uwe Rommel):
We in Germany say "Da werden Aepfel und Birnen verglichen".
(Do you speak German ? :-)

davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr):
I think your translation is incorrect. "Da werden Aepfel und Birnen
verglichen" does not mean "do you speak German" in English ;-)

clyde!feg (Forrest Gehrke):
He didn't give a translation, Bill.  He was giving an aphorism in
German and parenthetically asked if the readers understood German.  The
gist of it is "attempting to compare apples and pears". Maybe Mr. Rommel
doesn't realize that the English equivalent is practically the same. 


Readers may not realize that Kai-Uwe was paraphrasing an obscure conundrum,
quoted in Spritztour Schoppenklauer's "Aphorismen zur Lebensborniertheit":
"Hast Du wohl einen Pferdeapfel auf die Birne gekriegt?" -- loosely
translated: "How many horses-asses does it take to change a lightbulb?"?

-- 
Peter Renzland