Thursday, November 19, 2009

Was Dwight's "onlys and justs" proverb real?


Search
: onlys and justs candies nuts; onlies and justs candies nuts; unte danch; unte donch; und danc fest; unde danke; unte danch fest; ernte donch fest

Why: Tonight on "The Office," Dwight Schrute said:
If onlys and justs were candies and nuts
Then every day would be Ernte Dank Fest
Answer: No! Though maybe it's something like:
If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, wouldn't it be a Merry Christmas?
which may have been said by the football player Don Meredith, patterned after a Scottish proverb about horses and turnips and swords, or:
If ifs and ands were pots and pans
We'd be washing up forever.
Source: Google!

The More You Know: Erntedankfest (the "harvest festival of thanks") is Thanksgiving in Germany. It is primarily a rural and a religious celebration, usually celebrated the 1st Sunday in October . When it is celebrated in larger cities, it is usually part of a church service and not anything like the big traditional family holiday in North America.
A typical Erntedankfest celebration at Berlin's Evangelisches Johannesstift Berlin (the Protestant/evangelische Johannesstift Church) is an all-day affair held in late September. A typical Fest begins with a service at 10:00 am. A Thanksgiving procession is held at 2:00 pm and concludes with the presenting of the traditional "harvest crown" (Erntekrone). At 3:00 pm there's music ("von Blasmusik bis Jazz"), dancing, and food inside and outside the church. A 6:00 pm evening service is followed by a lantern and torch parade (Laternenumzug) for the kids — with fireworks! The ceremonies end around 7:00 pm.



2 comments:

  1. I've heard: "If wishes and buts were clusters of nuts, we'd all have a bowl of granola"

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  2. omg thank you. i did a search for this but clearly spelled Ernte Dank completely wrong because nothing came up

    ReplyDelete