Helau & Alaaf!

These are the battle cries of men, women and children as candy is thrown in the air during carnival. Tomorrow it is yet again time for the streets in the Rhineland to be filled by costume-clad partygoers. The #blcteam will be there in full force. Keep an eye out on our @Twitter as we reveal our group costume, the taste of vegan meat, and who the office’s biggest party people are. Our blog series “linguistics for takeaway” has dealt with general linguistics for the past year. Today’s topic of discussion is Düsseldorf Platt, spoken in the Rhineland’s capital. Without it, carnival would only be half as fun. But where does it come from and why do we speak it?