Saturday, January 28, 2006

Drinking Etiquette in Antwerpenese


'Da we ze nog laank meuge meuge' is Antwerpen for Cheers, kind of... It's head-spinning stuff.

It translates roughly as 'That we may like them [the drinks] for a long time to come'.

My Antwerpen warmed to my look of stunned amazement and continued with, 'Oep de gezondhe't van Meneer Gevers!'

'To the health of Mr Gevers!'

Gevers is Dutch for giver but pronounced with that slightly throaty 'hee' sound (according to Di) ... the one who gives something ... Meneer is Mr ... the person buying the drink.

Listening to his tongue twist and turn as he spoke, I foresaw Nederlands 24.7 as being the point where I might be sufficiently linguistically rearranged for the attempt.

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