Jeroen Vandenbossche’s Reviews > Mes amis > Status Update
Jeroen Vandenbossche
is on page 26 of 238
“Une lame de fer, avec trois trous, pend au vasistas”.
Il n’y sans doute pas d’intention d’humour dans cette phrase, mais le dernier mot (et son étymologie supposée) me fait toujours sourire…
— May 07, 2026 12:41AM
Il n’y sans doute pas d’intention d’humour dans cette phrase, mais le dernier mot (et son étymologie supposée) me fait toujours sourire…
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Jeroen Vandenbossche
is on page 101 of 238
“L’impression de jouer un rôle dans la foule me rendait de bonne humeur.”
— May 12, 2026 12:43PM
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May 07, 2026 11:18AM
How do you think “was ist das” came to mean a transom window?
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Noel wrote: "How do you think “was ist das” came to mean a transom window?"Hi Noël, I was told it was just a misunderstanding between German-speakers and French-speakers whereby the first opened the window saying "Was ist das?" and the former assumed they were referring to the window itself. Not sure whether it is true as the colleague who told me the story dated it back to the First World War, whereas Wikipedia teaches me that in fact the French "vasistas" is much older. Still, it is a funny story. I imagine two characters dressed up like Vladimir and Estragon being totally confused and not understanding each other one bit whenever I come across the word. :-)
