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Humorous Blunders in Your Target Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| learnvietnamese Diglot Groupie Singapore yourvietnamese.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4730 days ago 98 posts - 132 votes  Speaks: Vietnamese*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 177 of 185 11 September 2011 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | ||
Jarm, I wonder how you felt when you spotted the blunder. +1. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pfn123 Senior Member Australia Joined 4864 days ago 171 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English* | Message 178 of 185 16 September 2011 at 4:40am | IP Logged | ||
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Not long before my first trip to China, I was speaking with a Chinese friend. He asked me how I was feeling about the trip. I hadn’t been learning Mandarin for very long, and I felt that language would be a problem, especially my pronunciation. So, I answered him by saying ‘我着急’. At least, that’s what I thought I said. He stared at me in shock and stuttered: ‘你说什么呢?’ In fact, instead of saying ‘我着急’ (wŏ zháo jí), I actually said ‘我找鸡’ (wŏ zhăo jī), which, as my friend explained, has a very unsavoury meaning indeed. So, I learnt that tones matter, and practised them a lot more after that! Ironic too, considering I was 着急 about my pronunciation…
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| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5509 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 179 of 185 27 June 2013 at 8:32am | IP Logged | ||
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The Guardian published an article on the subject of language blunders. In the comments you'll find plenty of examples from the readers.
The Guardian Language Mistakes 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nikolic993 Diglot Senior Member Yugoslavia Joined 3561 days ago 106 posts - 205 votes Speaks: Serbian*, English Studies: Italian, Mandarin, Romanian, Persian | Message 180 of 185 01 April 2015 at 12:49am | IP Logged | ||
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Well, I was hopping that I wouldn't end up writing anything in this thread, but it finally happened yesterday.
We were learning some hand gestures in Italian class, and we were supposed to connect the pictures with their definitions or common expressions that are used with them. It was my turn to read the expression out loud and I was supposed to say "Che fifa!(How scary!), but instead I actually said "Che figa!(Something like "What a c**t!"). I only realized after like 2 seconds that I made a mistake, and I corrected myself right away while the professor was giving me a blank stare. None of the other students understood what I said, but unfortunately the female professor did. Edited by nikolic993 on 01 April 2015 at 1:12am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3317 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes Studies: Serbian | Message 181 of 185 01 April 2015 at 1:59am | IP Logged | ||
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When I was in high school I had this guy come up to me and say "hey, tell me how to
insult people in Serbian". I didn't like him very much so I said tell somebody "Ja sam budala" - it means you are an idiot. He smiled and then a while later he went up to a Croatian guy in our grade and said "HEY X, JA SAM BUDALA!!" the guy looked confused and then started laughing, the guy I didn't like think he mustn't have heard him properly or something so he says it even louder "JA SAM BUDALA!!!!!!" It was quite amusing :) (Ja sam means I am). 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4670 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 182 of 185 01 April 2015 at 2:36am | IP Logged | ||
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Something I learned in San Juan: In Puerto Rico tripe is los callos while
tripa is slang for something more private. It's poor form to ask the bartender, "su plata de tripa ¿es grande o pequeña?" 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4670 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 183 of 185 01 April 2015 at 2:44am | IP Logged | ||
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One more:
In Chuukese (Micronesian) purha chicken, and perhaw is shark. The first time I saw a shark while spear fishing I jumped onto the nearest rock and started screaming that I just saw a giant chicken. I couldn't understand why everyone else stayed so damn calm. Edited by kanewai on 01 April 2015 at 2:45am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5509 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 184 of 185 01 April 2015 at 8:03am | IP Logged | ||
I think that's a great thing to do and who knows, it might save him being in a fight. Imagine he wants to use it in a serious situation. "You're an idiot" would make things worse. But someone admitting "I'm an idiot" will probably end in laughter. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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