I'm not quite sure who made up this list... I found it on www.station.lu... (a great website, by the way)
Anyway... the rumor goes that...
You know you're from Luxembourg when...
But before I start with the list, here is some by myself:
a) you say "Moien!" ("Good morning") all day long.
b) you are forced to call your favorite national sausage "nach Thuringer Art" and your beloved national drink "d'apres la methode champagnoise".
Now back to the list...
1) you absolutely hate the Germans, although you constantly watch German TV, read German newspapers, listen to German music and know more about what’s going on in Germany than in your home country.
I guess so...
2) you call lasagne & spaghetti meatballs “Pastaschutta”.
Again... I guess so... I have to admit that I'm familiar with that terminology, but is it really a luxemburgensia? Not so sure...
3) your national football team makes it to the front page of your newspapers after they’ve won a game. Once every twelve years.
4)everyone's proud of your national football team after they lost 1:0 against Lithuania.
Okay, okay... You get the message... We're crap at football...
5) you love your Prime Minister, although you didn’t vote for him.
I like Jean-Claude Junker better than Gordon Brown. Whether that means anything is a separate question...
6)you use articles with given names.
Indeed, my French aunt has always blamed me for doing the same thing in French...
7)you think that your hands and your pockets are inseperable.
Again... Many people have been blaming me for that, even Luxembourgers...
8)you call UK England and won't admit that Scotland, Wales or NI exist.
Sorry - I strongly disagree with that statement... My guess is that it refers to all the SLSBääähhh (Society of Luxembourg Students in Britain) students based in London..., or may be Luxembourg tourists to the UK. But having studied in Wales, being married to a Scotsman, and living in Scotland, I certainly wouldn't be alive today if I didn't know the difference between England and Scotland. Well, may be I'm becoming too Scottish, and loosing my Luxembourg roots... Och weel... Ne'er mind...
9)you think Mr. Bean is hilarious.
Certainly find him funnier than that Borat chap, but I wouldn't say Mr. Beans is the most hilarious person in the world...
10)you like it when Luxembourgish people become famous, but when they get too famous you don't consider them Luxembourgish any more.
Huh?? Whether I like it or not, Marc Girardelli was never of Luxembourg origin, was he?
11)you think that Fränk Schleck will win the Tour de France 2008.
No comment...
12)you constantly joke about government employees, but eventually end up being one.
I won't, but I agree with the statement.
13)you think that passing your driving license implies you being the best driver of all times.
Agreed! BTW, why on Earth do winter tires and "driving on ice/snow" simulations not exist in Scotland, where we get much more snow and harsher weather conditions than in "Luxusbuerg"?
14)you have to drive at 180 km/h as soon as you cross the German border.
Sorry, I never tried that one...
15)you drive as a group from exactly the same starting point to the same place and everybody takes their own car. Then you complain about the lack of parking lots.
I guess that's true...
16)you want to buy drugs, you take a one day trip to the Netherlands.
I've never had any such desire.
17)you cannot order a croissant in your mother tongue (except if it happens to be French).
French is indeed my mother tongue. But I do get cravings for things I simply can't find here in the UK: a yummi Streisel, an Aachtchen (which made "de Pitti" famous in his Jokes), a Schneck, a Berliner,... Admittedly, with Auchan taking over the world, I've noticed that it can even be challenging to find those Patisserie Delikatessen in a Luxembourg store.
18)you worship "Kréckel Néckel", "De Bip bei de Wiichtelcher" and "Tatta Dillendapp".
Agreed - though there are many other Examples to be added to your list, like Superjhemp...!!!
19)you like the band Placebo, although you know that Brian Molko hates you. He does.
No comment...
20)you're allowed to drink alcohol at age 16, but people motivate you to start drinking at age 13.
Huh? At least in my days Luxembourg had a much better alcohol education than binch drinking UK...
21)you never drink foreign beer. Yours is superior.
I like a good Humpen of Mousel, Bofferding, Diekirch, Simon..., but that doesn't prevent me from drinking foreign beers like Stella, Corona, and Innes-Gunn...
22)you think that studying for at least ten years without doing a degree is quite a common thing.
I did study for almost ten years, but I got several degrees out of it. I think that statement is more appropriate for German students, who have the reputation to become "ethernal students"
23)you'll NEVER leave your home country for good.
True!
24) you go abroad and you have to tell people that you're mother tongue is neither French nor German, but Luxembourgish.
And NO it's not Dutch either.
True!
25) you get rather upset when you notice that you've forgotten your "Ökotut".
Ahaaa... As long as I have my husband with me, I always have an "Ekosaak"/ecossais by hand, even though he doesn't always wear his "Schotterack" which, according to the advert, would be the perfect "Okotut". Luckily, we still get free shopping bags up here (unless we go to ecofriendly Lidl and Aldi) which we can use as free bin bags.
26) you use two different words fir "2".
Ah, took me a while to get this one, but found a clue on another Luxembourger's site... You're right, even though there are also two words for "1" (whether male/female). Luxembourgish is quite unique to have also two words (male/female) for "2".
27) you know the correct answers to the questions "ça geet?", "wat ass lass?" and "wat leeft?"
I do indeed!
2 You use the present continuous inappropriately when you speak English: 'I am coming from Luxembourg.'
Okay... How many points did that cost you in your exams at the Kolleisch or Rodange?
29) you use the sentence 'Yes, it's a real country' at least once a week.
Now that's probably the best proof that I'm a Luxembourger... Along with comments like "Oh yes, I remember Radio Luxembourg", "Woaw, you must be very rich then", "Woaw, I've never met anybody from Luxembourg", "So you speak Dutch!", "So you are from Liechtenstein",... and questions like "So, do you call yourself a Luxembourg-er (like a Hamburg-er) or what??"
30) you use the same words to express 'I like you' and 'I love you'.
True...
31) you don't bend to pick up any amount of money which is inferior to 1€.
Hmmm... So may foreigners are right when they systematically think that Luxembourgers are rich... I'd still pick up the coin, unless it's in my garden, in which case I would cover it with soil and water it, with the hope that, according to the 1980's ad from the Banque Generale, more money will grow out of it...
32) you participate at the dancing procession in Echternach, but not because you're religious, but because you want to get drunk afterwards.
Ooops, I've never taken part in the Sprangprozessioun...
33) there is a prison break and your first reaction is: 'Again?'
Yeah, but that happens everywhere... In the UK, they even release prisoners, simply because the prisons are overcrowded...
34) you know that it will take you 30 mins max to drive to either France, Belgium or Germany.
True...
35) you consider Trier a Luxembourgish city.
True...
36) you go shopping in Trier and curse about the far too many Luxembourgish people in the city.
I don't, but I guess that's because I'm ot Luxembourgish enough...
37) you hate the Germans for blocking your local petrol stations.
Yeap, and Belgians and French as well...
38) you know that the University of Luxembourg is merely a joke...
apart from the faculty of medicine, please...
39) you stop zapping whenever Luxembourg is mentioned on TV.
True, although that hardly ever happens unless you have RTL...
40) you know at least 5 jokes involving stupid Belgians.
Yeap! Same for "de Pitti", Manta, and Ostfriesen...
41) you've been to Cap d'Agde/France.
Nope, but I've been to Saint Tropez, which, I guess, means the same...
42) you pronounce Lloret de Mar 'Lorré del mar'.
Yes, even though I've never been there myself...
43) you are unable to pronounce the following sounds: the German 'ch', the English 'th' (neither of them). Furthermore you can't tell the difference between the letters 'w' and 'r' in English.
No comment...
44) you put the stress in pizzeria, cafeteria and any other Italian word on the wrong syllable.
No comment...
45) you buy at least one new mobile phone per year, but still consider Nokia 3110 to be the best phone ever. (It definitely is!)
No comment...
46) you've been called Luxlait, Luxair or any other brand name with the prefix 'Lux' by a Portuguese person.
No comment...
47) you call Portuguese people 'Guallen', Italians 'Biren', Germans 'Preisen' and the French 'Heckefransousen'.
No comment...
48) 1€ Macdonald's cheeseburgers are an important part of your nutrition.
Huh?
49) you know that there's nothing better than a good 'Bouneschlupp', apart from a 'Paschtéitschen mat Fritten an Zalot'.
Mmmmh! Yummi!
50) you despise any sparkling water other than 'Rosport'.
Yeap!
51) you know at least four languages, but can't write in your mother tongue.
Yeap! (in Luxembourgish, that is)
52) you know Fausti lyrics better than your national anthem.
equally well, I'd say
53) you know Fausti lyrics in the first place.
Huh?
54) one of your childhood memories is having a 'Jean la gaufre' wafer at the 'Schueberfouer'. Once you're 16 all you care about are the "Dikkrecher Béierstuff' and the 'Schwarzwaldhaus'.
Sorry... I never switched from Jean La Gauffre to any of those pubs you mention
55) you talk to your friends, strangers think you're drunk.
Huh?
56) you remember ODC.
Huh?
57) you don't sing. You shout unintelligibly.
I wouldn't say i shout, but I admit my singing is crap. Never thought that was related to my nationality, though.
58) you hear the sentence 'You're the first one I meet from that country' once a week.
Definitively!!!!
59) you hear the sentence 'Tell me something in your mother tongue' once a week.
Definitively!!! (assuming that the foreigner gets far enough to knowing that such a thing as Luxembourgish exists)
60) you put a conditionnel after 'si' in French.
Admittedly, that's a very luxembourgish thing...
61) you have to translate texts for your professors.
Yeap, but that can be a good thing, no?
62) you think it's quite normal to have your own car, even if you're only 20 years old.
Not sure about that one for myself, but I guess you're right, as a general rule...
63) you visit Paris, London and NY for Christmas Shopping.
I don't, but Luxair, Sales Lenz, and Demycar definitively advertise for that quite heavily.
64) you think that paying 500€ for your one room flat is a pretty good deal.
Yeap. Mind ya, Scotland isn't any better in that respect...
65) you study abroad and speak more in your mother tongue than in the foreign language.
Assuming where you study at, but I guess it's definitively true for Strasbourg, Brussels,... The best is to cheekily use Luxembourgish to hide the fact that you know French and German...
66) you complain about your 3star hotel, while you're on holiday.
Huh? You're a bit too posh for my taste!
67) you know the police officer who arrests you and the judge who judges you.
and... and... and... Everybody knows everybody, whether you like it or not.
68) you always meet somebody you know when you go out.
Even when you're abroad!
69) you think that Starbucks is something special.
Huh?
70) more than 70% of your friends study economics or law.
Huh? Sorry pal, but I wasn't in "D Sektioun" in high school, so I don't know anybody studying/having studied economics or law, appart from my brother.
71) you realize that a city with more than 475'600 inhabitans is bigger than your whole country.
Yeap.
72) you think it is normal that 50% of the cars on the streets have foreign country code plates.
Yeap.
73) you are referred to as 'Luxos' by the French.
Yeap.
74) you call your ministers 'Jang', Erna' or 'Mady'.
Yeap.
75) you love Europe, but hate most other European nations.
No comments.
76) you think Bin Laden is a schoolboy as opposed to the Bommeleeër.
No comments.
77) the Bommeleeër is the most noticeable figure in your country's history.
One of them, yes.
78) you hold a Karlspreis (when born in 1986 or earlier).
Huh?
79) you think it's normal that teachers and social workers can afford fancy cars and houses.
Normal, not sure, but that it's a fact, yes.
80) you care about what your neighbours will think.
Much more than I would about my neighbours in the UK, yes.
81) you use 'd'Sau' to refer to other people.
Yeap.
82) you used to watch 'Häppi Diwwi' as a child.
That makes me feel old... I wasn't a child anymore when Monika started Happi Diwwi.
83) you're fluent in sarcasm.
Guess so, although I didn't know that was a Luxembourgish thing.
84) you study about 200km away from Luxembourg and go home every single weekend.
True for many Luxembourgers, but not for me... I've always been studying >200km away from home, and come home only a few times a year.
85) you end up being an alcoholic before you turn 18.
Definitively disagree, and would think that Luxembourg teens are more sober than their foreign counterparts, but then I could be wrong...
86) you think the Luxembourgish high school diploma is the most difficult and valuable in the world.
Yeap.
87) you join Facebook groups that are similar to this one.
Does that mean this list was first broadcasted on a facebook? But to answer your question, yes, I've joined facebook groups.
- don't ask me what happened to questions 88 and 89, I've no clue! -
90) you refuse to use public transport on principle.
Huh? I love Luxembourgish public transport!
- don't ask me what happened to questions 91 to 93, I've no clue! -
94) you say “I’m going to the city” and everyone knows exactly which city you’re talking about.
Yeap
95) you remember Sam & Tam.
Sorry chap! In my days (and that's before Sam & Tam), they were called Tim und Bim (und Susi).
- don't ask me what happened to question 96, I've no clue! -
97) you know that the Luxembourgish flag is soooo different from the Dutch.
Of course! And I don't think we need to go for the Roude Leiw to distinguish ourselves from the Dutch. For heaven's sake, I could never draw a presentable flag of my country in less than two hours if we did!
98) you don’t like to bump into Luxembourgish people when you’re on holiday.
I think it's fun! Watching them think nobody knows where they're from or understands them, so they release all their gossip - it's just hilarious! But too much of it becomes tiring, I guess.
99) you can’t get to know anyone you don’t share at least one friend with.
Probably, but I don't mind.
