From: guto rhys
Message: 14427
Date: 2002-08-21
A German / Spanish historian friend of mine (the son of a Spaniard who fled Francoist Spain to Germany and married a German woman) said that one of the ways Germans tried to identify spies who had learnt German perfectly was by causing them unxpected pain and seeing if they said 'aw' or 'ai'. Or something similar. 'Ai' being used in Spain and France, 'aw' /'ouch' in UK and �ire - what is used in other areas? I have come accross other examples which are specific to certain words which I can't remember now - I'll see if I can dig them up from my memory or a book. One related example, possibly anecdotal (I am aware that these fields provide ample space for anecdotes), is of a German (pro-allies) spy being parachuted into France and ordering a caf� au lait and being identified as a spy consequently - rationed milk not being used in coffee - only dried milk or something similar. Cultural rather than linguistic. This story is only vaguely remembered.
Guto