@Scott th Ratbag - In your interpretation/use of German, you sound like two friends of mine - who are always adding the ending 'en' when pretending to speak German.
The ending 'en' is used for verbs when they stand alone as in 'bringen, lernen, waschen, trinken' but in a sentence they need a nominative (someone doing the action and then they change to 'Ich bringe, Ich lerne, du trinkst' in English you have the choice of 'I am bringing, I bring' 'I am learning' I learn' - but to add to the confusion of non-German speakers, when it comes to the plural and the first persons 'we' it becomes 'wir bringen' - thus back to the ubiquitous 'en' - I apologise . . .
as this ending is most likely also used in Scandinavian languages - and I suspect the Swedish Cook on 'Sesame Street' had a huge influence on generations of children
- it's become habit to use indiscriminately on German words, and it doesn't matter whether it's a noun or a verb . . . .
Returning to 'Mist': . 'Mist' unlike the lovely English word for a hazy morning, actually means 'manure', but can also mean excrement - your choice. One of my good friends, despite numerous attempts at correcting him, loves to use the phrase 'Shizen Housen' and he means toilet or more crudely in German: 'Sheiss-Haus' - which I have never heard in German, where it is simply: 'Klo' or 'Toilette' (with the 'e' pronounced). Possibly I moved in the wrong circles . . . .
Thus endeth the lesson
As for the rest of your post: I totally agree with you - and the hardest part is to own up to one's own limits.
three cheers for Norm!!!!
Go well
Taurisk
