Saturday 16 October 2010

Lost in Translation

Not long ago, a Scottish restaurant opened up in Budapest (no, not that Scottish restaurant).

Now I am not a Scot, but when I walked past 'T'he Caledonian' (as it is called) the other day and saw this:

I did wonder if perhaps the people that run it might not be Scots either. Of course, cream of haggis soup may be the most normal thing in the world in Glasgow. Somehow though, I doubt it. And, as I looked at the blackboard, I couldn't help thinking of a more than usually pompous tutor who attempted to teach me at university. 'What we have here,' he would have exclaimed, using one of his favourite phrases,' is a clash of registers.' I think that's a fancy way of saying that something's just not right.

4 comments:

  1. I am undoubtedly Scottish. I love haggis. I love soup. But I have never heard of haggis soup. This is most not normal.

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  2. "A clash of registers" sounds like a wonderful collective noun. Like a parliament of owls.

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  3. I once made haggis soup when I put a haggis in to a pan of water to boil and the skin burst. I wouldn't recommend it - a nasty grey sludge

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  4. Madame - thank you, I love being right
    Nurse - or could it be a high-earning rock band?
    KB - I think you forgot to add cream

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