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Humorous Blunders in Your Target Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| manny Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6355 days ago 248 posts - 240 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Tagalog Studies: French, German | Message 25 of 185 01 November 2007 at 12:40am | IP Logged | ||
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I went with my wife to Spanish class in our church. Before class, the young female teacher said she was tired. Since I know her well, I tried to cheer her up by saying "you cannot get tired" (no puedes cansar) but it came out "no puedes casar" (you cannot get married). She looked so sad until we realized my mistake and we both started laughing.
I like the English-Spanish translations in our church since I learn a lot. About 6-7 months ago, I wanted to thank the interpreter for the tutoring. I said "gracias por la tortura". She was stunned, and then started laughing. I said, "thanks for the torture". I should have used "tutora" not "tortura". Edited by manny on 01 November 2007 at 11:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6269 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 26 of 185 01 November 2007 at 2:34am | IP Logged | ||
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I have made blunders but I can't recall any funny ones. All that happens is they don't understand me and I have to try again. Occasionally I transpose consonants, like the famous Reverend Spooner, but the effect is more confusing than comic.
Ideas of humour are different anyway. In Turkey, I was asked if I needed anything. I said a nargile ("hookah", item for smoking through a water filter) would be nice. They said "Really?" like this was a serious request. I had to explain it was a joke. I said something in Turkish a couple of months ago which made Turkish speakers laugh. In the course of a conversation I used the word zina, a word of Arabic origin meaning "adultery". Apparently the laughter was caused by my dropping a bit of legalese into an ordinary conversation. Edited by William Camden on 01 November 2007 at 4:04am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| epingchris Triglot Senior Member Taiwan shih-chuan.blog.ntu. Joined 7025 days ago 273 posts - 284 votes 5 sounds Studies: Taiwanese, Mandarin*, English, FrenchB2 Studies: Japanese, German, Turkish | Message 27 of 185 04 November 2007 at 1:43am | IP Logged | ||
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This is not about me, but one of my English teachers from the US once made a funny mistake. He was shopping at the mall with his wife, and they're picking some boxes for moving. His wife was worried that the box might not be big enough, and he said: "It'll do! We're using it to move!"
Instead of saying "banjia" (to move), he used "bangjia" (to kidnap). Imagine the horror it might have caused to hear someone at the mall shouting about all his plans and prepartions to kidnap someone. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6688 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 28 of 185 05 November 2007 at 4:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well since I have started re-learning French my English has become so shaky and awkward. My sentences flow awkwardly, and I mispronounce words. Awhile ago I pronounced "million" the French way.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| HTale Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6375 days ago 164 posts - 167 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written)* Studies: French | Message 29 of 185 07 November 2007 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | ||
LOL! This has to be the best of the lot! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| berlinhammer Triglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6562 days ago 19 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English*, GermanC1, French Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 30 of 185 09 November 2007 at 9:05am | IP Logged | ||
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i had one or two slips of the tongue that made me look like a bit of an idiot
in french i was at a friend's house and she was cooking for us, we were in the kitchen drinking or having a cigarette or something, and she asked me to pass her something or other and i noticed a leek on the sideboard, i said something like 'tu veux que je te passe la poitrine aussi?' seeing as a leek is a 'poireau' and 'poitrine' means chest, usually in the boobs sense of the word, needless to say there was some shock followed my laughter at my expense... in German on one of my first dates with my ex girlfriend i made a bit of an arse of myself by asking for the 'Richtung' instead of the 'Rechnung' (bill/check) at the end of the meal, seconds later remembering that Richtung means direction. i should have given up languages years ago ;^) Edited by berlinhammer on 09 November 2007 at 9:06am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Nephilim Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 7142 days ago 363 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English*, Polish | Message 31 of 185 09 November 2007 at 11:16am | IP Logged | ||
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I remember a few years ago, I was riding on the tram in Warsaw and the conductor came to check our tickets. Sitting across from me was an English girl, I think she may have been an exchange student in Poland for the academic year. Anyway, the conductor (a young man in his late twenties as I remember) came up to her and asked to see her ticket. To her absolute horror, she couldn't find it, despite some pretty frantic searching. She was a bit annoyed as she had, it turned out, recently bought a one month travel pass - no doubt to save money and linguistic hassle.She tried to explain to the conductor as best she could in Polish that she had left her one month ticket at home. What she intended to say was: 'I have a one month ticket' but what she actaully said was: 'I am having my period.' The young conductor, rather wisely I thought, moved on to the next passenger. Given this apparent linguistic success, the young lady most likely used this line to great effect on further forgotten ticket occassions. Big Smile.
Edited by Nephilim on 09 November 2007 at 11:18am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Kualidu Triglot Groupie Mexico Joined 6203 days ago 93 posts - 102 votes Speaks: Spanish*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 32 of 185 04 December 2007 at 4:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Latin America is becoming a major destination for cheap plastic surgery but I don't think this is reason enough for other people to make loud congratulations for their new looks. ;)
So, if you're planning to spend New Year at some resort south of the US border be careful to pronounce your "ñ" correctly. I've heard a couple of times friendly American tourists wishing others the best for the coming year (that is, ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!) but actually telling something totally different: Feliz Ano Nuevo which means Happy New Anus. Edited by Kualidu on 04 December 2007 at 4:24pm 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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