I think it was CHesterton who said that the English and the Americans have everything in common except language...

You can say things in English in one or two words that take 5 or 6 in French. Look at the French translation of wing flaps, for example. The Germans just go stringing words together to make a new one. I had a German language owner's manual for a 79 Mercedes 280TE gas engine wagon, and when I got the English translation one, it was about half the size, with all the same stuff in it.


Not responsible for advice not taken...