When I was teaching in Saarbrücken, I once took an English-German translation test when I was supposed to be proctoring the German-English test that was to take place after the E-G test. Since my colleagues were going to be doing the grading of the E-G test, I could not hand it in under my own name, so I wrote "Jonathan Schild" on the test (my middle name, and the German version of my last name).
My colleagues did not get the joke until I revealed my identity to them. I had gotten a B+.
I wonder why you're telling this story about language tests right now, at this time of year. You got the translation of your last name a little wrong, though. As you know, it's plural not singular, Herr Schilder; hence the B+. :-p
ReplyDeleteI just LEO'd "shield" to see what else is there and "Störlichtblende" seems to be a much cooler last name.
By the way, I used to live next to a Frau Schild. Are you a long lost son of hers?
I originally wrote the note as a comment on:
ReplyDeletehttp://colinwill.blogspot.com/2007/02/pseudonyms-nicknames-nom-de-plumes-etc.html
I consciously chose the singular, since Schilder is, as far as I know, not a German last name.