Bailout

Duncan Niederauer?s English-German phrasebook

By Felix Salmon

NYSE CEO Duncan Niederauer doesn’t speak German, despite the fact that he was a Grand Marshal in the 2008 German-American Steuben Parade of New York. So we at Reuters (with many thanks a certain very senior editor who shall remain nameless) thought we’d help him out with a few phrases which might come in handy:

English: Dick Grasso? Before my time, sorry.
German: Dick Grasso? Sorry, der war vor meiner Zeit.

English: Daimler-Chrysler? I don’t see any comparisons there.
German: Daimler Chrysler? Also den Vergleich kann ich wirklich nicht verstehen.

English: The New York Stock Exchange is the cradle of American capitalism. It is a national treasure.
German: Die New Yorker Börse ist die Wiege des amerikanischen Kapitalismus — ein nationales Heiligtum.

English: Just because we’re German doesn’t mean we’re intent on world domination.
German: Nur weil wir deutsch sind, heisst das noch lange nicht, dass wir die Welt dominieren wollen!

English: I, for one, welcome my new overlords.
German: Also ich, fuer meinen Teil, heisse meine neuen Chefs herzlich willkommen!

Further phrases are left as an exercise for the reader. A few to get you started: “This is a merger of equals, not a takeover”, “Chuck Schumer? He’s just a passing acquaintance”, “Flying commercial hurts productivity and is a major security risk”, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good”, “Co-located algorithmic high-frequency traders are important liquidity providers and are fundamental to the efficient allocation of capital on modern electronic exchanges”.

Full post as published by Macroprudential on February 15, 2011 (boomark / email).