Educational Reading

Billmon over at Whiskey Bar once again aces the test. And he scored a perfect 14 out of 14 on a LGF vs. LGF quiz.

Here's a small sample, but take a look at the entire article--it's well worth the time.

But reading the quiz quotes carefully, I also noticed two things:

1.) The average Late German Fascist was considerably more articulate -- and almost certainly more intelligent -- than the average Little Green Footballer.
2.) The Late German Fascist quotes tended to describe genocide as a harsh and disagreeable duty that had to be done to save the Fatherland. The Little Green Football quotes generally made it sound like a spectator sport .

The first difference obviously reflects the difference in rank and station between the two groups. The Late German Fascists quoted in the test were all leaders -- top party officials, Werhmacht generals, etc. And many of the quiz quotes were taken from their public remarks, which no doubt were written by the finest speechwriters Nazi Germany had to offer.

I'm sure if we could go back and transcribe (and translate) the beer hall boasts of a typical group of SA men, or the shop talk of a couple of Gestapo torturers, it probably would sound a lot more like the typical Little Greenfoot Balls comment -- a kind of pidgin Mein Kampf.