"Ich Bin Ein Berliner". Did that really mean "I am a jelly dougnut?" & JFK was a goof off? OR is it an urban

Question

legend?

Answer 1

It's one of those tricky linguistic idioms like the difference between "woman and child" and "woman with child." "Ich bin Berliner" is how a native of Berlin would have described himself. But "Berliner" is also the name of a popular jelly filled sweet, kind of like "Hamburger" and "Frankfurter" are names of sandwiches. When JFK mistakenly put in the article "ein" (German for "a" or "an") he changed to meaning to make the sentence refer to the donut, not the city. So yes, this is a true story, JFK really did call himself a jelly donut. However, the people of Berlin were very polite about this small mistake, just like we Americans would be polite if a German made a mistake in speaking English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6nQhss4Yc
http://csumc.wisc.edu/AmericanLanguages/writings/2_myths_kennedy.html

Added later: The comedian you're thinking of is probably Eddie Izzard. Comedians make fun of George Bush's "misunderestimated" too, but that doesn't mean he never said it.

Answer 2

He was trying to say that he was a Berliner (person from Berlin,) but the way a German would say that is, 'Ich bin Berliner.' There's no particular logic to the distinction, but it just so happens that when one identifies oneself in this way, no article is used. It also happens that there is a type of doughnut called a Berliner, so 'Ich bin ein Berliner' implies the pastry connotation of the word.

The nearest example I can think of in english is, 'I am a Danish,' instead of 'I am Danish,' or 'I am a Dane.' The meaning is still there, but the word has an alternate meaning which sounds unfortunately silly in what is meant as a gesture of goodwill.

Answer 3

It's a true story.
The mistake that JFK did was he used the article "ein". When a person give his/her city of origin in German, he doesn't use an article. So "Ich bin Berliner" would have meant, "I'm a Berlin citizen." With the use of the article, the word doesn't have the same meaning, therefore yielding the pastry interpretation. I don't think that JFK did it to be funny, though; I think he just didn't know that German uses articles like "ein" differently from how English uses them. In English, "I am a Berliner" (with the article "a") would be an appropriate sentence.

Answer 4

It's just a joke that some comedian has done. He was making a joke about how you can say the wrong thing when translating a sentence into another language. In this instance, trying to say that "ein berliner" meant a donut. The truth is that the sentence translates "I am a citizen of Berlin." You can also say "Ich wohne in Berlin", which means "I live in Berlin."

Answer 5

A Berliner can be a resident of the city of Berlin or a jelly-filled donut. But given the seriousness of the situation at the time JFK made that statement, it was definitely meant as statement of solidarity with the plight of the city of Berlin and its residents. So, he was referring to himself as a citizen of Berlin. You can bet your donut on that! :-)

Answer 6

A Berliner is a jelly donut. Germans love that story.

Answer 7

omg i just learned abou this today in french class and the topic continued to science!!!!!!!!! yea it means " I am a jelly donut" but appearantly his translator writing the speech wanted him to say I am also from Berlin. so he said and people loved it!

Answer 8

It actually means "I am a citizen of Berlin"

Answer 9

No, it means that "I am Berliner"
Berliner = people who come from Berlin

Answer 10

I am from Berlin