Evewn though I speak very little German, I have always had a problem with Kennedy’s so-called gaffe. While “Berliner” is a type of doughnut, it also means “citizen of Berlin.” I severly doubt that those who heard his speech assumed he was talking about doughnuts.
As I read somewhere once, would a crowd at Madison Square Garden mistake Obama saying, “I am a New Yorker,” as meaning Obama is a pretensious magazine?
Good article.
Some wit said that Obama went to Germany and said, "Ich bin ein Beginner". I think that gem should be used more often.