again, swenglish, anyone?

i always have a good laugh everytime i hear swedes mix their english with a dash of swedish. today, we treated alexander to a trip to Burger King for lunch - having been indoors due to fever and cold, we thought it would cheer him up one bit.

while father and son took their seats in the already crowded burger joint, i queued like everyone else. i have observed a mix of both local and tourist folk around me. while waiting for my turn, a scottish guy was being served at the next counter. i noticed that he was sort of flirting with this beautiful swedish girl behind the counter as he ordered his meal. the swedish girl was very accommodating and spoke to him in english very confidently and punched his orders as she exchanged banter with the guy - and then came the blunder as the guy was to pay with his credit card to which the over confident girl asked: "can i see your leg, please?" - i almost break into a guffaw ... the line in itself is a classic on its own! a very common mistake swedes commit when asking an english speaking person to show their identification card. you see, in sweden, in order to show proof of your identity, you are expected to show your "legitimation" - that folks meant your identification card in form of a passport, European ID, driver's license or bank ID. the swedish word "legitimation", which i believe is latin from the beginning, is oftentimes abbreviated or shortened by swedes - they say "leg" instead. you can just imagine the confused expression on the face of the scottish guy ... not really understanding what the girl meant, i can't help but butt in - i told him that he was being asked to show an identification card. boy, how he laughed! he said he was very willing to show the girl at the counter his legs! and swedes around the counter, being the swedes that they were, just smiled - and the poor girl on the other side of the counter went all red on her face.

balancing our lunch tray with nuggets, burger and chicken crisps, i weaved my way through the crowd to my hungry boys sitting patiently in a corner table. my husband asked what was the commotion at the counter was all about. so i asked him: "can you show me your leg?"

i guess you know the rest ... swedes, i love 'em!