Sharon, I guess you know that "vegates" is a corruption of "Wie geht es ihnen" or Wie geht es dir. I used to say "vegate" to my Grandpa Wagner, and he'd always come with "The gate is broken, but I'm okay." Thanks for the memory Marven Weitzel On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:49:21 -0500 <smcginness1@cox.net> writes: > Me too! I'd love to be able to speak German...as it is I learned > from my daughter, who took German language classes in high school, > how to say "I live for weekends!" in German, "My cat scratches me > sometimes", and I know "vegates" (as you can see, I have no idea how > to spell German words!) I should have demanded to be taught by my > mom & my grandparents, but as they say, "We grow too soon old, and > too late smart!" > > Sharon McGinness > smcginness1@cox.net > > ---- "Reeves-Marquardt wrote: > > ============= > If you think of "Book German," you might still encounter polite "Wie > geht es Ihnen?" in Book German, as well as familiar "Wie geht es > Dir?" Both are acceptable. Book German is often refered to as High > German. This is the language of the theater, radio and TV. > > If you think "Home German," you think of dialects, often quite > different from Book German. Here it helps to know the International > Phonetic Alphabet because there are innumerable and subtle > differences. And it is here that you might encounter high German > dialects (southern) and low German dialects (northern). This is the > study which continues to interest professors as they seek to > describe the language used by our people at home, because it is > geographically conditioned. > > On other occasions, High German is considered Book German, because > it became, more or less, the standard language in the sixteenth > century. The standard language enveloped characteristics of middle > and southern parts of the German-speaking area. > > Low German (north) continued to be used--at home and to a lesser > degree in literature even until today. But it is not the standard > literary language. > > "High" and "Low" are geographical terms and have nothing to do with > social standing. > > And I wish my mother had taught me her dialect--or any other > German! > > Dona > > > Have a great day :-) > > Sharon McGinness > smcginness1@cox.net > > >