Ook Om Mee Te Nemen ...

I was curious about this ... having seen it from my tram any number of times, extra words (as is the habit of Dutch speaking peoples) on a sign over what was obviously a Chinese Restaurant.

Today I had my translator with me, and put the question to him ... I loved the way his explanation began, 'We have words you need a whole sentence for in English'.

They do ... it's quite disturbing for this monolingual kiwi chick. I felt cheated when some were explained ... I'm regressing to the childhood I've spent my whole life trying to flee with my, 'But why?'

Ook om mee te nemen simply means 'also takeaway'. So the restaurant has its own name, which I forgot to note down, and is followed by the news that it also does takeaways.

Overmorgen means 'the day after tomorrow' ... now he claims that this is logical and simpler than English, but 'over tomorrow' is the literal translation, and it's mindbending for me.

Perhaps, over time, with lots of patience from the man who lured me into this Dutch speaking world, my mind will be sufficiently bent to speak fluently ...however, I foresee many more 'but whys?' on the fluency road; a journey that will probably be littered with cries of 'but you know I can't make that sound yet'.

Sigh ...