Well, John Kerry's campaign may have been keeping a lid on his command of French, but we've got our own linguistic skeletons in the closet.
For example, Ren and Stimpy's advertisement for the All-New International Log.
ANNOUNCER: Parlez vous Francais? Non? Then you need the All-New International Log. Just tug its twig, and you'll turn your Log into a talking tree fluent in five foreign tongues! There's French!
FRENCHWOMAN: Allez-viens mon coco.
ANNOUNCER: German!
GERMAN GUY: Ras bedeut [?], strudel.
ANNOUNCER: Spanish!
SPANISH GUY: Las cucarachas entran, pero no pueden salir.
ANNOUNCER: Svenish!
SVEN: I am a bearded lady.
ANNOUNCER: And of course New York-ese.
NEW YORKER: 'Ey! Can't you see I'm walking here?
ANNOUNCER: Yes, Log. All nations love Log. So, hurry now to your local store and be the first in your country to have the International Log.What rolls down stairs
Alone or in pairs...
Rolls over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack
And fits on your back?
It's Log! Log! Log!
It's Lo-og, Lo-og
It's big, it's heavy
It's wood!
It's Lo-og, Lo-og
It's better than bad
It's good!!!FRENCHWOMAN: Tout le monde aime le Log!
SVEN: Yah. It's really fun.
NEW YORKER: I got your log right here.
Everyone needs a log,
Everyone wants a log,
You're gonna love it: Log.
MR. HORSE: Yes sir, I like it!
I just discovered this, honest.
Posted by Mark Liberman at October 19, 2004 08:35 PM