I can't remember which thread wound its way to the quesiton of whether JFK ever called himself a "jelly doughnut," so I'm posting on a new topic.

My friend who IS a real, live Berliner (meaning a person from Berlin) says:

Yes, JFK said, "Ich bin ein Berliner."

Yes, he pronounced it funny (Beer-linner) but that didn't matter.

The word BERLINER has two meanings. (1) Obviously, it means a person of / from the city of Berlin. (2) It also means a jelly-filled pastry -- "exactly like a jelly doughnut you would buy in New York." Likewise, the word FRANKFURTER means a person from Frankfurt, but it also means a certain kind of meat sausage associated with the city. Likewise, WIENER means a person OR a kind of meat sausage associated with the city of VIENNA.

So: JFK said he was a Berliner. He did not "get it wrong." But there is a pun there for those who seek such things.

Here endeth the lesson.

he said - ich bin ein Berliner
- when he should have said - ich bin Berliner

something like saying "I am a danish" instead of "I am Danish."

so the problem is not Berliner, but EIN

or I got it all wrong and it doesn't make any difference ?

cultural note: a berliner can also be a large joint (about as big around as your little finger) which has been mixed with a good quantity of hash in it. Not that I'd know, of course.

jhs

It would have been a lot funnier if he had said "I'm a Frankfurter"! Perhaps G-dub will say that.

Les

Ilza,

I don't know about "Ich bin Berliner" vs "Ich bin EIN Berliner."

EXCELLENT question. I will ask my Berliner and post again.

MARIAN