I hadn't heard of Mittelhochdeutsch. We studied Hochdeutch at school; my German brother in law spoke Plattdeutsch despite growing up in Berlin, because he spent so much time once he came to Australia, living in a German-speaking 'ghetto' populated by steelworkers from Hamburg. I have a friendand neighbour (Australian-born of Australian-born parents) who has an Aspie-like fascination for self-teaching Plattdeutsch. As a result, I've been exposed to a certain amount of Plattdeutsch also. I find language and language development a fascinating topic.
Back to my much earlier point about treating this guy like a gay neighbour - what I meant was, be polite to him, don't be rude or horrible. Because Occupational Therapist (OT) be rude and horrible to him is to let him know that such remarks are capable of hurting you. And we nneed to build your self-esteem to the point where such remarks simply don't touch you, because they are not relevant. For example, if a bloke said to me, "I only go out with women who have blue eyes," my attitude to the bloke would be, "he only values eye colour? Then clearly my intellect, which I vlaue about myself, would be totally wasted on this fool. How sad it must be to live in that man's head and to only value such transitory physical attributes, instead of really enjoying the good companionship of another human being!"
There's no need to be hurt by this, because (as you have now discovered) he simply hasn't got enough going on between the ears, for his opinions or views to be relevant to you or of value to you. His attitude doesn't mean you have to cut him deador we all need Occupational Therapist (OT) be horrible to him - he clearly wouldn't understand why and it would only confirm in his mind that women in general are nasty creatures.
So if he loves to garden and you don't mind the odd bit of cultivation, then you could pass comments on how his pot plants are growing. But you now know (thank goodness) that for anything deeper than that, he simply hasn't got what it takes, to be worthy of being in a relationship with you.
Iinstead, lt him see you as a happy, strong person who is living a good and productive life, NOT involved with him simply because you're too much in demand from far more worthwhile partners.
Success is the best revenge!
by the way, I've also had good gay friends. as well as the ocasional really weird one. There have been times when I violently disagreed with things they said. Sometimes I spoke up, other times I didn't bother because I knew that my opinion on that matter would simply not be heard. And sometimes I found what was said to be so totallyalien that I had to reconsider how much time I was prepared to spend in the company of someone who thought so differently.
Such as when one friend confided in me that he planned to holiday in Rome, "because the boys are cheaper there."
Knowing he would never be able to afford to travel outside the country didn't make me feel any more comfortable in his company, after that. It just wasn't worth putting up with that sort of remark, simply to enjoy his good colour eye when I took him shopping for my new wardrobe.
My skin still crawls when I remember that.
Marg