Apt

[sister_luck]

This neon sign sums it all up:



I like its ambiguity. Is it a question or a command?

Comments

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess it's a question, because when it were a command you'd grammaticaly make a different phrase, right? My German is horrendous, but when I'd be giving a command I'd say something that would sound like "Tue Etwas." In Dutch it would be "Wat doen?" and "Doe iets!" or even "Doe wat!", but that "wat" has a different meaning in that last phrase, namely "sth" and not "what". So yeah, I can't read it as a command -- more as a statement -- stating the obvious, maybe? We're all doing something, right? Or we aren't and then we have the question. So, yes, it's ambiguous, but not because it's a command, rather because you're not sure whether it's a statement or a question. I'd say it's a question.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

You're right - technically it can't be a command. It's either the age-old question "What to do?" but it also works as an infinitive along the lines of [You/I should] "do something" or like you said just "doing something". So, it can be read as a statement.

As it lacks punctuation, it can mean many things.
Was tun? is a question, was tun! is a command and with a full stop you get a statement.

[anyasbuttmonkey.livejournal.com]

....

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

But it's pretty, right?

Sorry, I don't do many 'German' posts, but this one just had to happen.

[anyasbuttmonkey.livejournal.com]

Oh you don't need to apologise :)

[lijability.livejournal.com]

Yeah... but a command to do 'was'? Was es was?

That is if I understand it!

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Yeah, is anything enough? Does it matter what you do as long as you do something? And when you do something, the question is what exactly?

(You got what I was thinking. I'm not sure I understood it either.)