Luciano wanders out loud on his wall
I wondered lonely as a cloud...
Luciano Busuttil
Karmenu Vella was impeccable tonight, even though Lou Bondi seemed to be the Prime Minister’s chief canvasser. Sometimes I wander if PN subsidises such a programme…what do you think?
And then we’re shocked because BComm graduates can’t spell or punctuate.
I am particularly aggrieved because this is one of my pet peeves: the use of ‘such a’ in substitution for ‘this’.
As for the inability of so many Maltese to distinguish between ‘wander’ and ‘wonder’, I had worked this one out some time ago and written about it. It’s all because of the pronunciation.
‘Wander’, with Maltese vowels, is pronounced like the English ‘wonder’. And ‘wonder’, with Maltese vowels, is pronounced like the English ‘wander’.
And so people like Luciano, who speak English as a third language (what are the odds that Italian is his second?) consistently use ‘wonder’ where they mean ‘wander’ and vice versa.
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Let me wander down memory lane for a while.
When I was nipper, this high, my primary school had the dangerous idea of organising a talent show. I was chosen by my fiendish teacher to sing the infamous “Happy Wanderer”. Instructions were sent to parents to dress up their little dears in appropriate costumes.
On the fateful day, I went up on stage, in faux-lederhosen and mountain hat with a sprig of edelweiss in the brim (actually daisies from our garden). By all accounts I sang splendidly, but as soon as I attacked the “Valderee-valderah” chorus, the whole assembly hall exploded in giggles. Such is the fate of anything even remotely music-hall in Gaza strip Malta. They snigger at it.
To cut a long story short, my psyche was irretrievably damaged and this is how I ended up on this blog. I wandered here by accident, as it were.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glOOqOtISNU&feature=related
@Hans-Peter
The good news is: you can always learn from this blog:
It’s “Fallerie, fallera”!
I’ve always wondered about that chorus. Does it actually mean anything, even in German?
I used to think “fallerie, fallera” is just an onomatopoeic filler,
but opinions seem to differ here: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=73355
In German it is used as a shout of joy, like “Yipee!”, which sounds a bit old-fashioned though.
Then Frankie throws in wond’ring to complicate matters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr_QwybBiSw&feature=related
Apart from “wandering” and “wondering”, how can Luciano tel us, with a straight face, that Karmenu Vella was impeccable?
He was nothing short of awful, slimy even and what he was saying was preposterous, to say the least.
He may have been good at his job but he’s performing abysmally in politics.
Baxxter– I wander if Luciano is able to fathom your humour.
Considering his persistent mistakes, I wonder why he wrote about his wandering in English.
His comment is definitely not for the literate.
A PBS newsbroadcaster this morning read out a news item re the Manchester United / Basle football match. He pronounced ‘Basle’ as basil.
It is not Basle. The club is FC Basel 1893.
Same thing happened yesterday on PBS news at 2000hrs.
The American state of Arkansas is pronounced as ARKANSAW yet PBS’s anchor chose to pronounce it as ARKANSAS just like the state of KANSAS with AR thrown in.
“Wander” and “wonder” brings to mind how most people pronounce “bowl” like “bowel”; I think it’s because the first sounds, depending on accent admittedly, like Maltese for pee [the noun not the verb].
The song “Seventh Wonder” comes to mind…..
How many times do you hear anyone saying Sliema Wanderers? It’s always ‘Wonderers’, like the players are a bunch of star-gazers or something.
I always imagine eleven semi-doped players running around with awe written all over their faces wondering what it is they’re supposed to be doing.
B.comm and B.com are 2 different courses