When I see a Nissan Juke, I think “ugly”
To be even more specific, I think “bug eyes” 
I just thought of something funny . . . the other day, I saw a Pontiac Aztek on the road. He was driving right next to me, actually. The thing looked like it had been t-boned. That said, it didn’t look any uglier than a non-crashed Aztek 
Yeah. Sure. Do your kids believe that? But hold on here. Your kids are likely grown and you don’t need to tell them such tales but then there’s the grand kids maybe.
But the truth is I learned more on my own than I learned in class after about the 6th grade. And I knew what a cow catcher was but don’t have a clue where I learned it. I think there were still a few locomotives around when I was a kid maybe.
Someone I know wanted a cheaper car and found an E series circa 2000 for $3500. I told her to buy a used Camry/Corolla or some other budget car, but it fell to deaf ears. The MB has probably been driven only for 1K miles but has had many things go wrong with it. So far $2.5 K in it and now I believe the transmission is gone. Hefty price to be seen in a premium brand IMO.
I believe all of my 20-something children know what a cow catcher is. Then again, we’ve been to the B&O Train Museum and seen many locomotives with cow catchers. I have to admit that I never saw a locomotive in use, and I’m over 60.
Languages are funny sometimes. In Danish, a bumper (front or rear) is called a ‘kofanger’.
That word translated to English is cow catcher. Same with speed: in Danish it is fart and if anybody of you heard it, you’ll think of something very different.
Merry Christmas to everybody.
I think that it may be similar in German.
Back in the '50s, I can recall looking at a Mercedes–which was still a curiosity in the US at that time, unless you hung out in Studebaker showrooms (Stude was their US distributor)
One of the switches on the dashboard (I assume that it was the ignition switch) had one position marked “fart”.
If it was German it would likely have said “Fahrt”, meaning Drive or Run.
Mein gott! Sie sind richtig.
You jogged my memory. The word was indeed “fahrt”!
Low German (Plattdeutsch), spoken in Northern Germany, is phonetically identical (almost) to the Dutch language. Spelling is different. My Father in Law, from Northern Germany, had no problem understanding his Dutch colleagues on the rare occasions that they chose not to speak English. High German is universally spoken in Germany and Low German is rarely spoken these days. Anyone know where the terms High and Low German come from? Stay out of this, @Docnick. This is too easy for you.
Edit: too easy for @db4690, too.
Thanks. On the other hand, the Danes are a very reasonable, middle of the road people. There is even a city called “Middelfart” in that country!
DON’T tell our taxmann that.
Yup, that’s where most people place their car when they are out driving.
That can be translated into a city of modest speed, ‘the city (it almost is) in the middle of the country’ or 'a modest (no, I’m not gonna write it).
Actually, I speak Hochdeutsch and Pfaelzisch, which was my regional dialect. A very ornery one, actually, but that’s the great thing about dialects and accents. They’re so full of character, aren’t they?
My mother was born in Silesia, which was Germany at the time, and always had been. Some people believe Germany annexed the region, but they’re mistaken. they’re probably thinking of parts of Czechoslovakia. Anyways, at the end of the second war, the Soviet Union really screwed up eastern europe, because of their various land grabs. Poland was carved up, and its people were displaced to the west. What was Germany, was now Poland, and my mom was suddenly a refugee. She eventually wound up in northern Germany, and was looked down upon, by the longtime residents. She never learned a regional dialect, because my grandmother frowned upon such things.
A lot of the Dutch people I’ve met could open their mouth and pass as German, but the reverse was not true. Understanding is one thing . . . pronunciation and speech is another
To keep it car-related . . . My grandmother was partial to Volvos. She would have loved to drive a 240 series, but her financial situation didn’t allow for that. Even though she was a civil servant with a decent income, and later a good pension . . . a teacher, actually . . . her husband was a well-meaning man who was lousy with finances, and that sometimes held the family back. The Volvo she did drive . . . she had a few of them . . . was a 340 series hatchback, which apparently had earlier been known as DAF. The interior did have the same general look as those 240s, but it was smaller, and apparently wasn’t built to the same quality levels
The rural Dutch spoken near the German border has a pronunciation more German than Dutch. I studied Hochdeutsch in school and found it relatively easy (except for the complicated grammar) compared to learning French.
According to my mother, her Prussian grandfather would chide his wife–who came from East Prussia–that she spoke lowly Plattdeutsch, while he spoke Hochdeutsch.
I have no idea regarding which dialect either of them actually spoke, but I do know from family stories that her Prussian grandfather was NOT somebody with whom you would argue.
It’s actually a geographical reference. Low German is (was) spoken in the northern lowlands and High German spoken in the southern mountains. German royalty spoke French. I learned this on a tour of the Kings Park on the southern shore of the lake at Berlin. Sans Souci really is without equal. If you get to Germany, you really should get to Sans Souci and the rest of the Koenig’s Park. Magnificent. It was easily the highlight of our two week trip to Germany; right behind the wonderful time we spent with the family at their homes south of Bremen.
In this article, we look at IHS Automotive’s volume premium sales forecasts for the “big three” German OEMs as Mercedes-Benz stands on the cusp of deposing BMW as the global best-seller for the first time in a decade.
looks and a comfy interior are two major criteria. Technology like adaptive cruise control, blind spot alert, rearview camera and navigation comes next. I would also look for a AWD/4WD/RWD. However, if the maintenance cost is too high I would definitely give it a second thought. The car will be primarily for commuting to work (, 5 miles) and for joyrides. I liked the exterior of Accura TLX but do not know much about it. I am gonna spend 30K on it so I should consider all the parameters and optimize my choice.
Adaptive cruise control is an option on a few vehicles today, but blind spot monitoring and rear view cameras have become the norm, in 2018 is the year the cameras become mandatory I believe.
Satnav is pretty much an option in all but the lowest of trim level cars today.
With 4/AWD you’ll be looking at a little bit more maintenance than a normal 2wd vehicle, 4ut the biggest caveat will be your tires. Most 4/AWD vehicles will have you buying 4 new tires instead of 2 to keep the center differential from becoming damaged.