You say drindle, I say dirndl...let's call the whole thing off!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Another too-mild-for-the-Pit gripe.

Kim Kardashian is in the Washington Post Express newsrag this morning for tweeting:

“Off to Oktoberfest in my new drindle! My mom will not take off her drindle she is even doing interviews in it! Embarrassing!”

Now, dirndl is a foreign word (German, or actually Bavarian, as my Hamburg friend would sniff dismissively), and I’m not faulting Kardashian for being unable to spell…or pronounce, since the “r” occurs in a different relation to the vowel…or look up the word. Despite the fact that it’s a commonly-used term in fashion, supposedly one of her areas of expertise, I understand she’s not paid for her spelling.

I am, however, again tilting at the windmill of the terrible/nonexistent editing of the Express. They report this tweet without comment, apparently unaware that “drindle” isn’t a word. It’s not even a common mistake on the all-but-illiterate Internet: this morning, Google reports hits for the two spellings as shown:

dirndl: About 1,670,000 results

“drindle:” About 2,790 results

Considering a large portion of the Google hits for “drindle” must be the tweet itself and people (and the Express) passing it around, that’s not close enough to constitute “an alternative spelling” even by the loosest descriptivist’s standards. It’s just an error.

If the person composing the little blurb knows what a dirndl is, as a professional journalist, even in the entertainment section, shouldn’t said person be expected to be able to spell the word, or comment on Kardashian’s game attempt to spell it? The section of the Express it’s in, “people lookout,” seems to specialize in snarky comments about celebrities – other headlines on the same page make fun of Jennifer Lopez getting a job on American Idol (“World Feigns Surprise!”) and a legal issue Demi Moore is having (“You’re a public figure. Get over it.”) so it would be completely in character for the paper to poke fun at Kardashian’s spelling. But they seem blithely unaware of it.

And it’s a funny-looking word, too. If the Express writer and whoever passes for an editor don’t know what it means, why not, I don’t know, look it up?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to Grammarfest in my traditional Grammar Nazi uniform.

2

The hell’s a dirndl?

<looks it up>

Ooh, that’s hot.

3

Brett Favre went to Oktoberfest in his dirndl, and was spotted eating hors d’œuvres.

4

head explodes

5

So is “dirndl” pronounced as “drindle” in America?

6

No.

7

I thought a dirndl was that little spinning Hanukkah toy.

8

Yeah, sometimes.

9

Ah, so dirndl is German for ‘cleavage factory’?

10

Evidently, wearing a dirndl turns women into lesbians. Hm.

Maybe I’ll take my wife in for a fitting.

11

The journalist may know what dirndl means, but for it to work as a joke on Kim Kardashian, the readers have to know, too. Maybe they figured that piece of knowlege was just a bit too obscure.

I’ve been to the Oktoberfest. When dirndl works, it works very well.

12

Soooo, you’re saying you need more sleep?!? :dubious:

13

They seem to think we know what a “drindle” is, because they don’t explain it, and that happens to be even more obscure. :stuck_out_tongue:

14

But if they’re quoting the tweet, they should maintain the original spelling and maybe stick a [sic] after any errors.

15

No, I’m saying she’ll suddenly develop an interest in other women, which naturally she’ll bring home so we can all have sexyfuntimes together.

Now go away and let me have my fantasy.

16

I swear that earlier today one of the little headlines was about Kardashiana’s Oktoberfest girdle,and I didn’t click on the link.

And I always thought a dirndl was a full, high-waisted skirt with a wide waistband, not the little vest thing. Live and learn.

17

Perhaps I haven’t adequately described that section of the paper in question. They put words into the mouths of celebrities (in their headlines at least) to make them look silly. On that same page, one headline about Paris Hilton’s difficulty traveling to Japan: “I WILL RUIN Your Rep on the Club Scene, Japan!” Paris said no such thing, of course, (actually she politely expressed a desire to visit Japan again later) but the Express is just making nasty fun at her expense.

page 75 of this link – warning, .PDF and stupid celebrity snark

The fact that they aren’t making any comment about Kim Kardashian’s spelling is not due to restraint or good taste, I assure you. I assume it’s because they don’t have anyone on staff who knows the word dirndl – or anyone who can be arsed to look up a word they don’t know.

18

Or she will bring her new friend home, sit down with you on the couch and say “I’m leaving you for New Friend,there will be no more sexyfuntime with you,and I never really liked it with boys anyhow.”

19

I think its actually a dress worn with a blouse underneath. Depending on the cut, the top of the dress may only come to beneath the vests, might prop them up in the “oh, cleavage!” fashion of a Bavarian barmaid, or - as in the case of my eleven year old daughter’s drindl, actually be cut like a schoolgirl’s dress.

20

Ahem.