Mind your language
In Brussels ostensibly for a meeting at the European Commission, we were on a different mission. We were on a pilgrimage to A La Mort Subite, a tavern not so much renowned for its name (Sudden Death) as the causes.
We went on the prowl... and as suddenly as it’s name implies, there was the famous bar. I requested in my best Flemish “Twee biertjes alstublieft“. Jacques Brel songs aside, this was my only Flemish.
The bartender looked exasperated, indicating the vast array of beers, as if to say “You’ve gotta help me fella!”... only he said it in French.
- Category: True Stories Told As Fiction
11 comments add one below
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Neville Hunt about 6 years ago
Belgium has two different spoken languages, Belgian French and Flemish (= Dutch) dependent upon whether you’re in Wallonia (French) or Flanders (Flemish). Brussels is technically in Flanders, so I am vindicated, although humiliated at the time ☹️
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Christopher about 6 years ago
That's interesting. I didn't know that about the languages.
If I were ever in Brussels I would have to satisfy an old 80s curiosity and see if I could get a man to give me a Vegemite Sandwich! (If that reference is unfamiliar to anyone, look up the lyrics to Men At Work's "Down Under.")
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Christopher about 6 years ago
Oh, And only you, Neville, could make interesting a drabble series about a world tour for beer!
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Neville Hunt about 6 years ago
Thanks Christopher. Vegemite isn’t the real thing though....it’s an Aussie charlatan. Marmite is the original and is fantastic. Even I could make you a Marmite sandwich...and it would be delicious. I eat it regularly. Many people hate it and others love it. It is a very powerful taste.
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Christopher about 6 years ago
I never really knew anything about it other than Men At Work mentioning being given one by a man in Brussels. There's another line in that song that's Aussie slang that took me years to discover the meaning, "Where beer does flow and men chunder."
I found out many years later that chunder was slang for vomiting.
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Steve McBrevity about 6 years ago
Chunder derives from the days of travel by sea in ocean liners to outposts of the Empire... the wealthy passengers on the upper decks would shout “watch out under” as they vomited over the side as they suffered seasickness or too much drink.
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Christopher about 6 years ago
Wow. You learn something new every day!
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Neville Hunt about 6 years ago
Very interesting Steve. It reminds me of a true story of when we took a ferry to Ireland for my brother’s wedding. It might pop up soon as a drabble now that my memory has been jogged! Thanks!🙂
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Neville Hunt about 6 years ago
Thanks Drew. Marmite sandwiches it is then. (I had one today!) 😋
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Neville Hunt about 6 years ago
Thanks Drew. Marmite sandwiches it is then. (I had one today!) 😋
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Christopher about 6 years ago
I don't think either of those sandwiches are available here but I'll keep an eye out for the Marmite.
