Ich möchte auch ein Spieß werden!

Ok, so there is this ad on TV in Germany at the moment that I find particularly funny.

There is a Dad and his approx 10yr old Daughter sitting outside watching people and things go by. Every now and then the little girl says that someone or other had this cool thing, and someone or other had that cool thing. Each time the father responds with "Spießer".

The little girl, because it is the response to everything that she thinks is cool, then says to her Dad "Wenn ich älter bin, will ich auch ein Spieß werden!". The father proceeds to choke on his coffee... But why?

"Spießer", which the father kept using, means that someone is "bourgeois" (which I had to look up in an English dictionary), or simply common or materialistic.

The little girl's response in English is "When I am older, I want to also become a 'Spieß'!" - meaning that she also wants to be materialistic...or so she thinks.

But here is the problem, "der Spieß" means a spit, or a skewer. So basically the little girl has said that she wanted to be "spit roasted"...if you know that term, when it has nothing to do with roasting meat over hot coals... :) No wonder the Dad nearly choked himself on his coffee!

Anyway, I find it kinda funny.

Tschüß,
'Brush