This is a bit old hat to many people, I know, but still fun to revisit now and then. In JFK’s June 26, 1963 West Berlin speech to underscore America’s support of the democratic cause in a free Germany, he famously stated: “Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’… All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!'”
The debate has continued ever since that what he really should have said was “Ich bin Berliner” (I am a citizen of Berlin) not “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which, translated literally is “I am a [type of] donut.” Eddie Izzard, who plays the Hollywood Bowl this week, perhaps best recounts the situation here (YouTube).
Posted by: Colin Mangham
[Below, Kennedy’s handwritten crib sheet with phonetic spellings]
