ALLIED JOINT FORCES COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED FORCES EUROPE
HIGH PRIORITY FLASH MESSAGE
DATE    14 AUG 1945
FROM    WILCKE BRIG GEN MINNA-DIETLINDE LKK CMDG
        501 JFW
TO      LEMAY MAJ GEN CURTIS E USAAF CMDG
        XXI AERIAL ATTACK COMMAND 20 USAAF
IN RE   YOUR MORONIC PLAN TO GET EVERY AIR WITCH IN EUROPE KILLED
        ATTACKING NEUROI GROUND POSITIONS SCHWEINFURT-REGENSBURG
SIR
MACH ES DIR SELBER
STRONG LETTER TO FOLLOW
WILCKE

now calls to mind:

ARTHUR HARRIS: "LEMAY!"
CURTIS LEMAY: "What is it, Harris?"
AH: "You're trying to get our Air Witches killed!" (Punches CL) "That's _my_ job!"

>now calls to mind:
>
>ARTHUR HARRIS: "LEMAY!"
>CURTIS LEMAY: "What is it, Harris?"
>AH: "You're trying to get our Air Witches killed!" (Punches CL)
>"That's _my_ job!"

"You must be more careful, sir," said the harried traffic officer. "You could've killed someone tonight, the way you were driving."

"Young man," Air Marshal Harris replied testily, "I kill hundreds of people every night."

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

"Mach es dir selber" literally means "do it yourself". That would be a sharp enough rebuke, as a witch's rebuttal of a muggle's plan to waste witch lives, but in German/Karlslandic it has an added dimension, because in that language it's also a minced profanity of a high order. It is so commonly assumed to be a way of saying "go fuck yourself" without actually using foul language that, culturally, it has essentially become foul language.

You really don't want to get on the wrong side of Minna, is what I'm saying. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>"Mach es dir selber" literally means "do it yourself". That would be
>a sharp enough rebuke, as a witch's rebuttal of a muggle's plan to
>waste witch lives, but in German/Karlslandic it has an added
>dimension, because in that language it's also a minced profanity of a
>high order. It is so commonly assumed to be a way of saying "go fuck
>yourself" without actually using foul language that, culturally, it
>has essentially become foul language.
>
>You really don't want to get on the wrong side of Minna, is what I'm
>saying. :)

Halfway between 'do it yourself' and 'go do yourself'.

-----

"V, did you do something foolish?"

"Yes, and it was glorious."

Google Translate renders it as "DO IT YOURSELF YOU", which only lacks an "————" at the end.

It's the "strong letter to follow" bit that fills me with morbid curiosity — now I can't help imagining that particular missive being delivered in a red-hot strongbox, chained to a long metal pole carried by two husky (and nervous) orderlies.

--
Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-11-15 AT 06:42 PM (EST)
 
>It's the "strong letter to follow" bit that fills me with morbid
>curiosity

Heh - inspired by this, which, while I doubt its authenticity, is nevertheless a nearly perfect telegram. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.