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Title

That doesn't mean what you think it means

Description

In colloquial Swiss-German, the English word "easy" has been incorporated in some of its senses: as a synonym for "simple" and as a synonym for "relax", as in a shortening of "take it easy" or a replacement for "no problem". For example (and I'm taking liberties with the Swiss-German spelling here because there are, at best, unwritten rules for that), you can say: <bq>Das isch doch easy! <i>(But that's easy!)</i></bq> and you can also say: <bq>Kasch es nid mache? Easy, ich mach es.<i>(You can't do it? No problem, I'll do it.)</i></bq> As long as the word remains embedded within German (or Swiss-German), it can mean whatever the Swiss think it means. However, once they jump the fence and start using only English words, they are, logically, subject to English colloquial rules and (sometimes) grammar. Case in point, the following product is available at a local discount store, Aldi's: <img src="{att_link}dsc00073.jpg" href="{att_link}dsc00073.jpg" align="center" class="frame" caption="Girl So Easy" scale="50%"> If you examine the shirt more closely, you'll see that what is on offer is a garment that announces to the world that your eight-year--old is "so easy". It's not known whether this product is originally German or Croatian or Taiwanese. It is likely that the designer was convinced that people would come away with the impression that the wearer of the garment would be seen by all as very relaxed. Granted there aren't too many people in the area that would take offense---mostly because most other Swiss products have also adopted a cavalier attitude toward the English language. The other shirts on the table were such a jumble of English words and numbers that it was literally impossible to infer any meaning whatsoever, unintentional or not. Let the young bearer of this shirt, however, go on holiday to the notoriously hyper-pedophilia--aware England or U.S. of A and her family could have its hands full.