Ich spreche klein deutsch

[pne]

It always amuses me when people say, "Ich spreche klein(e) deutsch" (or variations thereon).

Presumably, it's meant to be a translation of "I speak only a little German", but"klein" is "little" only in the sense of "small" ("I speak small German"?), not in the sense of "not much" (which would be "wenig").

It's a cute mistake.

Comments

[darth-spacey.livejournal.com]

I used to know a little German; Heinrich, my next-door neighbor.

This is a true story,