Chat-up lines in 15 languages
This is a really funny book which I bought for a good laugh. The book is divided into chapters depending on the circumstances and what you’re trying to say -‘Basic Chat-Up Lines’, ‘Date’, ‘Foreplay’ and ‘The Morning After’, for example.
The old-fashioned yet comes-across-as-sincere-and-friendly, “Do you come here often?“, for instance, is ‘Tu viens ici souvent?’ in French, ‘Vieni spesso qui?’ in Italian and ‘Kommer du hit ofta?’ in Swedish.
If you think that’s just too lame for you, try ‘Ist es hier warm, oder bist du nur heiß?’ if you happen to be in Germany (“Is it hot in here, or is it just you?“).
Under ‘Advanced Chat-Up Lines’, there’s the smooth “Apart from being sexy, what do you do for a living?” which translates as ‘Oltre ad assere sexy, che lavoro fai?’ (Italian), ‘Wat doe je voor de kost, behalve sexy zijn?’ (Dutch) and ‘Aparte de a ser sexy, ¿a que te dedicas?’ (Spanish). If you try this, remember to raise one eyebrow and stare intently into your subject for full effect.
The cringe-worthy yet hilarious “Come to me, lady, and me slay you with my sword of love,” is ‘Allez ma belle, laisse-moi te transpercer avec mon epay d’amour’. I took French and I can tell you that ‘transpercer’ also means ‘to pierce’ or skewer. Ouch. Doesn’t sound like fun.
Equivalents have also been thoughtfully provided in German: ‘Komm zu mir, edles Fräulein, und lass dich von meinem Schwert der Liebe erlegen’ and Czech: ‘Pojd’ ke mně, má dámo, a dovol mi, abych tě st’al svým mečem lásky’.
The all-important “Will you untie me now, please?” is translated as ‘Elli di plis ddatod fi nawr?’ in Welsh and ‘Quer desata-me agora?’ in Portuguese.
Other laugh-out-loud moments: “Now keep the rhythm by singing ‘Dancing Queen’“- ‘Ahora, para no perder el ritmo, canta ‘Dancing Queen” (Spanish) and ‘Og hold sa rytmen ved at synge ‘Dancing Queen’ ‘(Danish), “I’ll post the handcuff keys when I get home“- ‘Ti invio per posta le chiavi delle manette appena torno a casa’ (Italian) and “Quick, my wife/husband! Into the cupboard!” – ‘Fort! Min hustru/mann! In i garderaben!’ (Swedish).
Try and get your hands on this one- whether it’s simply for the heck of it or if you really intend to use the phrases. Also available on Kindle.
© 2011 – 2014, Anis. All rights reserved.
