Sometimesthedutchlanguagereallyamusesme
I noticed the other day that the Dutch words for many articles of punctuation are really literal, and just describe what the symbols look like. For example:
# = hekje = little gate
* = sterretje = little star
() = haakjes = little hooks
^ = dakje = little roof
@ = apestaart = monkey tail
: = dubblepunt = double full stop
; = puntcomma =full stop comma
& = en-teken = and symbol
I like this a lot, it’s a lot easier to remember than the unintuitive English equivalents (colon, ampersand, asterisk). I want to start using the English versions of these in everyday conversation:
“Ok so my email address is cmb, then the monkeytail button…”
“To unlock your phone press the little gate button, then 07 then the little star button”
“Yeah it’s the text between the little hook things that you’re looking for…”
Comments
Comment from Jim2
Time: May 14, 2008, 10:15 am
Having just read the comments re: bike crashes, I now realise that Geraint, too, is reading the blog again.
I feel part of a very select community.
Comment from cmb
Time: May 14, 2008, 11:40 am
The site still gets a lot of hits from google, three posts in particular get over 100 visitors every single day:
Top 5 Online Streaming TV Sites
shopperdisc.co.uk WARNING
How to Drill a Lock
various other posts get a few dozen each. As for astronomers, it seems to just be you and Geraint so far, as well as somebody who shows up as coming from the IfA in Hawaii, who I assume is an astronomy friend off observing 
Comment from Geraint
Time: May 14, 2008, 1:25 pm
Sort of punctuation related, but when I moved here I came by car, and drove from IJmuiden to Groningen with the radio on. I kept on hearing this word ‘puntanel’ and wondered what it meant. Then I twigged…
Comment from cmb
Time: May 14, 2008, 4:55 pm
Hahahaha that is excellent!
My also remember my first language epiphany. It was on my second day in Holland after walking past a garage with a compressed air machine, and then past Leiden’s port, in a flash of brightness I figured out that a Luchthaven was literally the same as in English
Comment from jim g
Time: May 14, 2008, 11:55 pm
the person from the IfA is probably me craig - i’m observing (or was, on my way home now…) your blog is an excellent resource on those long nights: glad to see it back!
Comment from Mark
Time: May 15, 2008, 11:46 pm
I’ve been lurking as well.
Comment from cmb
Time: May 18, 2008, 7:02 pm
Norris and Jim(1)
We now only need Crainbo and Stotty here and it’ll be just like the Market Tavern on a thursday night
Comment from jps
Time: May 22, 2008, 9:21 pm
all present and correct sah!
Comment from Jim2
Time: May 14, 2008, 10:11 am
I’m definitely going to start using monkeytail button when telling someone my email address.
Am I the only one reading your blog at the moment?? The beauty of having RSS.