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Waiting for the ghost | Ha ha.

Lingua 5B — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:25:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Waiting for the ghost
Poster: Lingua 5B
Post title: Ha ha.

[quote]Jack Doughty wrote:

I once attended a translators' meeting at which a native Russian speaker was asked: "Are you a member?". He replied: "No, I am a ghost". (The Russian for "guest" is "гост" (pronounced "gost"). [/quote]

The same word in Serbian for a guest ( = gost). It turned funny in English, true.

@ Heinrich: Has this happened because the ghost appearance is the only part of Hamlet she's familiar with or because she'd expected things to be so changed in a modernized version to the point of completely different characters and settings/storyline? I don't get what's the issue here.

Waiting for the ghost | Guest or Ghost

Jack Doughty — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:39:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Waiting for the ghost
Poster: Jack Doughty
Post title: Guest or Ghost

I once attended a translators' meeting at which a native Russian speaker was asked: "Are you a member?". He replied: "No, I am a ghost". (The Russian for "guest" is "гост" (pronounced "gost").

Waiting for the ghost | Better if you keep mum about the change that took place.

Mrudula Tambe — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:29:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Waiting for the ghost
Poster: Mrudula Tambe
Post title: Better if you keep mum about the change that took place.

[quote]

Oh, quite so, but why is it called Hamlet?

She had been waiting for The Ghost, forgetting that we had changed theater.
[/quote]

It seems, she enjoyed the play more than you because curiosity and expectation about upcoming characters make the viewer enthusiastic. You should have told her that Ghost will be in "Part - 2" of this play which will take place next year... ;)

[Edited at 2010-10-16 06:29 GMT]

Waiting for the ghost

Heinrich Pesch — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:15:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Waiting for the ghost
Poster: Heinrich Pesch

This is a true story!

Yesterday we planned a visit to a small theatre. They were about to perform "Don Hamlet", a modernised version of the Shakespeare classic settled in the world of the Mafia.

I had phoned and reserved two tickets. When my wife came home I told her: tickets are reserved.

A few moments later my phone rang, it was the theatre. The person was very sorry. There were not enough reservations for the evening, so the performance was cancelled.

I told my wife about it. We decided to look for another performance. On the net I found, that Q-Theatre had scheduled a performance of "A Perfect Day" written and directed by Jussi Nikkilä, a play with music about lonesome people living in different flats of the same building. There were tickets left.

So we drove to downtown Helsinki and got tickets. Great play, good actors.

During the intermission at the bar I asked her, did she like the play.

Oh, quite so, but why is it called Hamlet?

She had been waiting for The Ghost, forgetting that we had changed theatre.

The second part of the play was then still more enjoyable. And no-one died at the end.