A Bit of Fry and Laurie - A Swiss Play

[EmmyNeander]

AWW, so cute! How long have I waited for those two to speak German. :)

[SuperJJx]

The´re kinda like Rowan Atkinson these two

Them alone on a stage can be hilarious :D

[DutchMileyLover]

Haha, that's the most awesome short sketch ever.

[Ypsilon941]

that was "hoch-deutsch" (the normal german). swiss-german "switzer-dütsch" is one of the most difficult to speak dialects. "Öcher-deutsch" or "Aachener-deutsch" is much easier, especially for english-speaker, because it contains some english words (trekken, prompt, kosha etc.)

[TheMachinegunkelly]

@Ypsilon941 yes i agree it is one of the most difficult dialects, im actually swiss and speak schwitzer-dütsch bernese to be specific which is even harder to understand for a german or english speaker

[artvandelay13]

"never very far from being interesting"

[saytheremeg]

"Hi, or if you prefer, hello." I love that! Even though that had nothing to do with the rest of the sketch, I thought it was very cute.

[Tuantubes]

Yea, but... that looks and sounds German (or at least a vague imitation of it)... Is this the joke: that non-comedy mocks the mock Swiss comedy which is neither Swiss nor a comedy? Auch, my brain hurts!

[MissHederSparrw]

it's so great that they made a scetch about Swiss :D Hugh and Stephen have amazing pronouncing skills, and yes, I'm Swiss :D

[xojeckiaxo]

hugh looks cute in that outfit....... =]

[artvandelay13]

i guess i'm just not sophisticated enough for swiss comedy :)

oh p.s. please remove the spoiler from the description!!

[oOstareOo]

thats clothes from Bavaria, Germany.

I'm from Bavaria too.

But I don't wear stuff like this xD

thats just in very old and traditional parts of Bavaria.

And they talk in German.

Sounds not so bad ^^

[CHmale81]

And why are they wearing German clothing?

Anyone?

[rhcp1lovethemgreat]

I have a wild idea for a theory;

Its clothing that austrian, german and swiss people that live nearby or on the alpine mountains have been wearing for quite some time. It is mostly attatched to austrian traditions :)

[CHmale81]

Roughly familiar with my contrymens traditional clothing I have to say that your theroy is indeed rather wild.

Green never is a dominat coulor of swiss traditional clothing nor leather shorts and certainly not ze silly german felt-hat.

So again why the german clothing, is there a hidden punch line or somthing?

[pergorav]

Leather-shorts are not german clothing as such. They were usually worn by folks who are living near or in the Alps. And that of course implies Swiss, Austrians and Germans. btw. is Germany a tinsy bit larger than just Bavaria...

[pergorav]

Err... I have to admit that leather-shorts in Swiss were only worn in the Kanton Appenzell, but they're quite different from the baiuvarian ones (notice! not bavarian...). They use to be longer and yellow. But nonetheless i don't think, that Stephen and Hugh invested so much time in investigation... ;)

[funkysistalady]

Because that's where Heidi takes place. Swiss Alps.

[ChrisvonLuckner]

*gröhl* *ROTFL*

[pppdc55]

w00t LOLz! "du riechst ganz richtig"? xD whats that supposed to mean? they'd rather say "du riechst ganz gut" or sth.

poor hugh. "riechst" and "richtig" are, like, the hardest words to pronounce ever! but he's doing it great. for an englishman, at any rate :D :D. i don't think fry could have done it better!

ps: excuse my english, i'm german..

[eviIguppy]

that's a great example of what is known in my home country as "swiss humor"...

the saying goes: die schweizer gengan zan lochn in kölla (the swiss have to go to the cellar to laugh)... no offense! ;) i just love clichés.

grüßli aus österreich

[mackeymkay]

-Good afternoon, Johann. You smell just right (correctly).

-Thank you very much, Heidi. And you, too.

[hahayouredead33]

i love fry and laurie

german's my mother toungue and i have to say that fry speaks perfectly.

[hungh0rse]

the language spoken in here is actually german. proper standard german. in switzerland, german is official language, amongst others. but this has nothing to do with real schweitzerdeutsch which is spoken in rural parts of switzerland. the pronunciation of fry is btw much better than laurie's.

all in all still hilarious.

[monstrouscarbuncle]

Well, I have to correct you there: "Schweizerdeutsch" (my mother tongue actually) is the common language in the whole German part of Switzerland - not only in the rural parts (although everything is written in standard German). Then there is French in the western part as the second "official" language, followed by Italian and Raeto-Romanic (which is only spoken by a very short amount of people in the winter holiday region).

Pedantic greetings from Switzerland! :o)

[hungh0rse]

you're absolutely right. after i wrote that, i actually thought that some schweizer would come and lynch me immediately... so i'm glad you corrected me this way, thx :x

[monstrouscarbuncle]

Stephen Fry's German pronouncing sounds quite well.

[phantomgirl3232]

Hugh Laurie in lederhoden is one of the greatest things on the face of the earth!!!!

[monstrouscarbuncle]

"Lederhoden"?! You mean "Lederhosen"! Hoden in German means testicles!! Ha!!! :oD

*LMBO!*

[blackcat355]

they look so cute in their costumes

[Kalliopurania]

Quite strange to understand these two without any difficulties... Hugh seemed to have some problems with saying "Du riechst richtig" ;D

[Erythrin]

dr fry sone chnuschpere purscht! das isch auso schones huere härzigs fiumli worde! chli viu glisches, abr ja nu so de...

greetings from switzerland

[monstrouscarbuncle]

So öppis! Bin ich aso nöt s'einzig Schwiizerchäsli i däm forum! Ha!

Äs liäbs Grüässli us Züri

[vonFulda1987]

Well, it's quite funny, but as TimCommerford already mentioned, no Swiss would speak standard German. (I'm Swiss myself) In Bernese German, the dialogue would be like this:

"Guätä Taag Johann. Du schmöcksch ganz richtig." - "Merci viumau Heidi. U du oo."

[TimCommerford]

They should have spoken Swiss, not German. No Swiss talks German in normal life.

[blackcat355]

they all have to learn "proper" german in school, and they can speak it, but the swiss dialogue is very different from those of people from germany or austria...

[TimCommerford]

"Proper" German you said. It's true we learn it in school but most of us don't really like it and like to call Swiss our real language. But never mind, I know what you mean.

[PsyschoBiene]

i know that they really are speaking in german samsooni7 i'm from germany

[PsyschoBiene]

i know that they are speaking german i'm from germany...

[PsyschoBiene]

rofl that was soo cool...and i love the way hugh said "guten tag" ^^

[zhentar]

They are saying:

Good day, Johann. You smell just right.

And then Fry replies:

Thank you, Heidi. And you as well.

[RequiemForADream412]

So what exactly are they saying in German? =/

[RequiemForADream412]

Oh, that was great! I love them even more now because of that. ^_^

[JenMalli]

Hugh spoke german ... now I am even more in love with him

[ChipmunkGeorgina]

just wonderful!! Heidi and Johann... lol

[Inulib]

Hugh had such a difficult sentence! riechst is a very tough word for an english man, but the last word of him is wrong. It has to be gut, not richtig. But it's so cute.

[RickieRocket]

Saying "gut" would have been much easier than saying "richtig", anyway.

[Elion86]

Well, that sucked.

[alexknibb]

Your comment was never very far from being interesting.

[metalinstatic]

huh

[Fischkiller]

haha...i really love those two:D

And steven´s really good at pronouncing german, sounds great!!!

[samsooni7]

that's because he really do speak german...

[tineblondine]

Does he? Did he learn that at Cambridge?

[katiemckay]

Sooo

why am I in love with Hugh Laurie.

<333

[cinefreak76]

Hugh's lederhosen - great! But i'm more impressed by Stephen's german skills - the first english person ever I heard to get an "ö" just right! lol

[blackcat355]

stephen's german is actually pretty fluent

[sweetpopcorn1]

it might be because his mother is an austrian! :)

[blackcat355]

i thought that was his father's side?

[sweetpopcorn1]

According to the UK National Archives, its his mother who's Austrian:)

[tineblondine]

There aren't any Germans in Fry's line.

In his bio Fry says his mother's dad was a Hungarian Jew.

In that generation that means his native languages would have been Jiddish, German and Hungarian.

[tineblondine]

Well, it's a pretty easy sentence!

Vocab of year 7 in English schools with standard curriculum.

[Silnorda]

Well, if it's true that his mother's Austrian, that'd be alright because there's actually an "ö" in the German for "Austria".

But I didn't know that. Cool!

[cinefreak76]

The bit of dialogue in german is just so funny. Not the words themselves but the way they pronounce it. I'm sure my english will sound as strange to any native speaker, but the way they roll the "r" and struggle with the "ch" - great!

[tineblondine]

The English all do. I taught German at an English elite school for a year.

[gaffsie]

" and David Pike's interview with the Swiss ambassador was never very far from being interesting." I don't know why, but that line makes me grin every time I hear it. :)

(Hugh's really working those lederhosen :D)

[JethroQ]

hahahaha. I love hugh's lederhosen XD

[RobbieCook]

Highly amusing.