Comments on: HEMA – online winkelen

By: Comércio online mais divertido | Fundamental Vídeo-Conteúdo

Comércio online mais divertido | Fundamental Vídeo-Conteúdo — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:06:23 +0000

[...] não entendo lhufas de holandês, fiquei em dúvida se era de fato um site de comércio online – neste link tem a resposta, com comentários muito bons também. Dedique três minutinhos de sua vida ao [...]

By: John Dempster

John Dempster — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:07:36 +0000

Just to correct “Sereniteit” and there comment.

I know there is a problem with federalism in Belgium but “as yet” Flanders hasn’t been declared an independent nation and is still part of the kingdom of Belgium.

(sorry for being so pedantic)

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:39:44 +0000

On the back of French DVD releases one of the extras often is: “Le making of”.

No kidding.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:57:12 +0000

Phil,
Don’t you have any filter against ads for BJs? Your server does you a disservice.

By: Tod

Tod — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:02:55 +0000

WRT the passing of (american) English words into other languages, I find that the Germans have been the opposite of the French in this regard. When I worked there 15 years ago I encountered such things as “McDrive” (the McDonald’s drive-through), airbag, fitness, aerobics, news (as in the Nightly News, instead of the German Nachrichten), and so many more. I’m fairly fluent in German but in the telecom biz my vocabulary was pretty dismal. I found, though, that I would be understood if I simply “germanicized” the English word (that is, applied the appropriate articles, verb endings, etc). The best that I heard, though, was one of my German colleagues speaking about having “upgebacked” (backed up) the day’s documentation.

For further interesting reading, check this page out: http://tinyurl.com/2gkbvr

By: JB of Brisbane

JB of Brisbane — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:18:46 +0000

Re English words making it into other languages: what about FUTBOL?

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 21:47:36 +0000

In a James Bond movie Q demonstrated a portable stereo with a built in bazooka, as he explained to Bond: “We call it a ghetto blaster”.
I guess the term “Boom Box” could have been used to a similar effect.

By: themadlolscientist

themadlolscientist — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:20:45 +0000

“Boom box” has been around longer and has pretty much passed into standard English (or at least American). You see it in print ads and even on the packaging.

By: anomalous4

anomalous4 — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:17:22 +0000

It’s those portable stereos (the bigger, the better) young guys (mostly) used to carry around before the days of iPods. Also known as boom boxes. They got the name “ghetto blaster” because you used to see a lot of young black guys (from what’s now known as “the hood” instead of the ghetto) carrying them around. They used to set them up and turn them up as loud as they could for break dancing. A derisive expression which some people consider offensive.

Nowadays it seems everyone who likes it loud just puts a huge stereo system in their car. I can’t stand being in the car next to one at a red light. It rattles my eyeballs and aggravates my depression.

By: Jacco

Jacco — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:23:59 +0000

I am curious: what is so funny about the ghettoblaster? I don’t get the joke. No offence, English just isn’t my native language, that’s all.

By: anomalous4

anomalous4 — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:21:26 +0000

Mark UK: Damn, I miss “Woollyworm’s”! Over on this side of the pond, they disappeared in the ’90s.

By: themadlolscientist

themadlolscientist — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:15:48 +0000

Egaeus: Trust me, it’s for real.

[1] American slang can be slow to reach Europe and can hang on longer there than it does here. The same holds true in the opposite direction.

[2] The English language is made up largely of adopted words from other languages, and now that it’s become “the world language,” it’s returning the favor(?). Most everyone over there is OK with that (except the French – the Académie wastes a gazillion francs a year trying to keep foreign words out of their language). “Blender” is nothing. The one that cracks me up is “camping,” which you see all over Germany and is pronounced “kemping.” Then there’s the strange things they do with English words in Japan…………..

Spaceguy: I get BA’s daily updates via e-mail, and I noticed the skanky porn ad too. Blecccccccchhhhhhhhhhh. I LOLd though, because the ad for “IM BIG B@$+@®D” appeard on the line immediately following BA’s link to “this weird site.” Welcome to Accidental Nonsequitur Theater!

By: Matt J

Matt J — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:33:02 +0000

Spaceguy:
“Yikes, there is an X-rated ad on today’s main page. It uses the F-bomb and all. I hope there is a way to prevent this and that it never happens again.”

Pornography? On the Internet?! Outrageous!!! Seriously though, it was probably just an anomaly. I’m sure Phil can email google and ask them to clear things up.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:30:40 +0000

Haha, “ghettoblaster” for 23.95. This is the greatest European online shop ever!

By: MO Man

MO Man — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:04:16 +0000

That’s right! Britney Spears was supposed to have an autograph session there that day but her manager got a phone call, and all he said was, “Bless you, Karl! I’ll grab her right now,” and then he pulled her into the limo and off they drove at over 100 mph (with an escort, of course, or you could never do that there). They could see the dust in their rear view mirror. Hey, so I’m not the only one who has that problem with women wanting cash upfront? Good to know.

By: SpaceGuy

SpaceGuy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:00:56 +0000

Yikes, there is an X-rated ad on today’s main page. It uses the F-bomb and all. I hope there is a way to prevent this and that it never happens again.

By: Mark UK

Mark UK — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 14:01:45 +0000

In the UK Woolworths is probably the closest to the Hema. Though they don’t have the nice sausages HEMA has… The things you miss when you move abroad..

By: Lugosi

Lugosi — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:13:19 +0000

slang: Pretty much all the comments I leave here–or make in real life–have at least a hint of sarcasm or irony…. Which may explain why I can hardly ever get a date without giving her cash up front.
The last thing I am is a science denier. I believe the ID people are a bunch of morons. Nor do I believe in most conspiracy theories. Simply put, any conspiracy involving more than one person is going to start leaking at some point. Moreover, the likelihood of such a leak increases exponentially with every additional person involved in a conspiracy. That goes for the moon landing, alleged UFO cover-ups, and JFK: Yes, it happened; no little green (or grey) men; and one a-hole with a gun.

That said, however, I do sincerely believe that the Bush Administration is out to systematically destroy Britney Spears’ credibility because she has threatened to reveal the truth about 9-11.

By: slang

slang — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:46:01 +0000

Dang, Lugosi, you got me. There’s nothing wrong with my sense of humour, but when dealing with possible deniers it’s so hard to distinguish between sarcasm and real stupidity… sometimes you read something and think, he can not possibly be serious, he’s GOT to be kidding.. only to find out that it was not a joke :/ Not that your post was that bad tho’

By: Sereniteit

Sereniteit — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:19:12 +0000

Hema is indeed an extisting shop which orginated in the Netherlands but which has also branches in other countries such as in Flanders.
It is known for inexpensive but quality material and many people here in Flanders happily buy goods in it.

By: Pieter Kok

Pieter Kok — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:09:25 +0000

I have shopped with HEMA regularly throughout my life, and my parents still visit them often, so it is quite surreal to read this post on a Sunday morning in the UK. The shop is quite unique, with their low prices, quality products and top design (well, for the most part). I don’t think there is really any comparison in either the US or the UK.

By: Jacco

Jacco — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:53:40 +0000

‘Eenheid’ should in this case be translated as ‘standard’, so HEMA = Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam = Dutch Standard Prices Company Amsterdam. The real HEMA online shopping page is:
http://hema.nl/nl-NL/winkel.aspx?navmethod=menu .
There is an item on en.wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEMA_%28store%29

By: Martin Watts

Martin Watts — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:09:32 +0000

Adrianus wrote: “HEMA=Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam. Eh..how do you translate that? Dutch Unity-prices Society Amsterdam.” Co-operative society maybe? Thinking of the Co-op chain of stores here in the UK.

By: Kaptain K

Kaptain K — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:32:56 +0000

Someday…someday…AT&T will extend fiber optic cable the last three Km to my place and I too can enjoy all these sites that you rave about! AS it is, after “three minutes” it was all of 4% downloaded.

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:11:29 +0000

The new address is hema.nl whose links work, if you speak dutch.

I don’t speak Dutch, but the links still work for me