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If you've ever interacted with someone who speaks a different language, what is the funniest misunderstanding you've had? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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An example of what I mean:

I, in China, told an English speaking Chinese friend I needed to stop off in the bathroom to "take a shit."

He looked appalled and after I asked why he had that look, he asked what I was going to do with someone's shit.

I had not laughed so hard in a while, and it totally makes sense.

I explained it was an expression for pooping, and he comes back with, "wouldn't that be giving a shit?"

I then got to explain that to give a shit means you care and I realized how fucked some of our expressions are.

What misunderstandings made you laugh?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

My favourite story like that is from my dad, who was WW2 vet. After the war, he wound up in Japan and attended a conference where someone stepped up to the podium and introduced himself as General McArthur's Chief Advisor. Or at least he thought he did…

The word for advisor is komon. The word for asshole or anus is koumon. Basically, you just hold out the first o out slightly longer and it switches to the other word.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

koumon

My parents forced me to attend after school tutoring when I was a kid, at a place called "Kumon" 🤔

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

I feel like this is too coincidental to be a coincidence.