Subj : Re: Favourite Fast Food
To   : Nightfox
From : boraxman
Date : Sun Mar 13 2022 12:10:42

 Ni> I'd heard about the Berliner donut (I'd heard of it just called a
 Ni> "Berliner"). There's an old story (which I've since heard might just be
 Ni> an urban legend) that when John F. Kennedy was president of the US, he
 Ni> wa talking to some people in Germany and toward the end, he said "Ich
 Ni> bin ein Berliner", to symbolically mean he's "from Berlin", or he stood
 Ni> with them; the story is that when said that way, it could be interpreted
 Ni> that he said he's a jelly donut (and the "correct" way to say it may
 Ni> have been "Ich bin Berliner").  But I later heard the way he said it was
 Ni> okay and would be interpreted as intended.
 Ni> 

I suppose it is no different to someone in Frankfurt saying "I am a Frankfurter".  Might sound amusing to us because we are used to one interpretation of the word, but they would be used to calling themselves that.

From my rudimentary understanding of German, it seems the "I am a Jelly Donut" interpretation is something that others discovered as a possibility, and I suppose from there, to bolster the humour, it was argued that leaving out "ein" made him say that.  But no, it is like me saying "I am New Yorker".

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