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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Spain's King Carlos tells Chavez to SHUT UP - Ringtone now available
2007-11-20

The king of Spain's recent undiplomatic outburst at the Venezuelan president has become a ringtone hit across Spain.
An estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words "Why don't you shut up?", generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2m).
Hey, Chavez, can ya hear me NOW? Nuttin' like a lil' capitalism for Verizon et al to make money of Hugo baby!
King Juan Carlos asked Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit in Chile last week after the president said Spain's ex-PM Jose Maria Aznar was a "fascist".
Of course, he's a fascist because he supported Bush. More at linky.
Posted by:BA

#10  Frank, I literally just fell out of my chair. I personally don't use curse words, but I definitely HEAR YA!

What's so hilarious about this is that the elites are so used to NOT hearing just everyday talk, that this is NEWS! Go to youtube, and you'll catch 50 different videos of the actual confrontaion and Univision's take on it (from TV).
Posted by: BA   2007-11-20 23:13  

#9  that's the difference between me and royalty. I guess "STFU pendejo" is inappropriate in those circles.... I need to learn ALL the rules if I'm ever gonna circulate among the elites. Damn. Another thing to remember...
Posted by: Frank G   2007-11-20 19:59  

#8  You go sit in deh green chair for 10 minutes and think quiet thoughts.
Posted by: Thomas Woof   2007-11-20 18:41  

#7  "'Please be quiet,' is how we would say it politely in America"

True, tw, though in the instant case "Stuff a sock in it" would have certainly been tempting. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2007-11-20 18:25  

#6  "Please be quiet," is how we would say it politely in America, JFM. But the very statement implies the recipient is either unaware of proper behaviour, or hasn't been paying attention to the situation. Both are mild insults. "Shut up!" is indeed rude.

The old-fashioned informal thou (nominative), thee (accusative and dative), thine (genative) used through the 18th century, and taught as proper grammar through the 19th, conform to the formal You (n/a/d)), Your (g). Whereas the European languages have become more informal in their language, with regard to pronouns English went formal, treating everyone as linguistically equal to the king. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-11-20 10:16  

#5  The Germans use the informal du with very close friends (equals) and children. They use the formal Sie with everyone else. To use the du form inappropriately is an insult. Even the younger generation of Germans, much more informal than their elders, will generally ask before "du-tsing". For someone as accustomed to the formalities of Court as King Juan Carlos I, to use the informal on a head of state is open insult, I should think. The entire quote, per JFM's translation, reads to me as exactly the kind of thing one would say to a small child, one so young that "Shut up!" would be frightening rather than effective. Also, while I haven't heard the incident to judge, the quote strikes me as a command rather than a question.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-11-20 10:03  

#4  AFAIK shut up is not polite in English. How do you tell it politely?

In Spanish from Spain callate is polite except that he is using the direct callATE (the form for speaking to family, people you know well, inferiors and the idiot driving the other car) instead of the formal callESE. However in Spain formal speaking is falling in disuse: TV anchors during interveiwes or vendors in shiops speaking with clients most of the time use direct instead of formal speech. Policians in Parliament normally speak the formal way. I don't know the use in South America.

Posted by: JFM   2007-11-20 09:57  

#3  In Latin America, "Callate" is "shut up." Learned that from our Colombian friend. I don't know what the difference is in King Juan Carlos's Spain.
Posted by: mom   2007-11-20 09:30  

#2  JFM:

Or he could have been real polite: "? Por que usted no cierra para arriba?
Posted by: Jack is Back!   2007-11-20 09:16  

#1  Giving the growing disfection in Spain for the monarchy he could be soon out of a job. But he has become so popular in Venezuela that he would quickly find an new one. :-)


Also while the tone was angry and Juna Carlos left the room raised and left the room immediately after he used no insults: Por que no te callas? translates as Why don't you stay quiet not as "Why don't you shut up" (Por que no cierras la boca) even if Juan Carlos used the 2d person of singular (unformal talk) instead of the third (polite form). For those familiar with French tu instead of vous, with German du instead of Sie, in old English thou instead of thee).
Posted by: JFM   2007-11-20 08:41  

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