SIGforum
Funny phrase mix-ups that foreigners say
April 20, 2017, 03:44 PM
9mmepiphanyFunny phrase mix-ups that foreigners say
quote:
Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
There are those idioms that many Americans can't seem to get. I hear "He has a tough road to hoe" all the time. Indeed, roads are tough to hoe.
I think the first time I heard that was my first trip to KY...I figured it was regional, along with the phrase "slight of hand." I'm guessing "sleight" is a foreign word to many folks
No, Daoism isn't a religion
April 20, 2017, 04:24 PM
Tejas421A French guy I once worked with:
"You are mixing apples and pears."
"There is more than one way to skin a chicken."
April 20, 2017, 04:46 PM
benny6So my wife, being Brazilian and all, has other Brazilian friends. Her best friend is a house cleaner. One of her clients used to leave notes all the time that began with "Just in case..."
Well after months she finally asked the client: "Who is this Justin Case that you keep leaving notes for?"
The same woman's husband, also Brazilian, once parked his service van too close to someone. When he came back, there was a note that said "Learn how to park next time! Thanks MORON!
So he goes back into the business and shouts: "Who is this MORON (pronounced like cologne), guy?!, I gotta tawk to em!"
Now whenever we see them, we joke: "Hey, we just saw Justin Case, he was hanging out with Moron! They told us to tell you hi!"
Tony.
Owner, TonyBen, LLC, Type-07 FFL
www.tonybenm14.com (Site under construction).
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April 20, 2017, 04:48 PM
DrDanMy Russian wife, soon after arriving to the US, hosted a party at our house. She did a wonderful job of setting a table with home made hors d'oeurves. She called the guests to come and enjoy "some snakes." Of course, she meant "snacks." Now, all we eat are snakes!
This space intentionally left blank. April 20, 2017, 05:02 PM
PHPaulMy wife is a regular old 'Murican, her family have been in the country for generations. She was born right here in Maine.
But...something in her head is wired just a bit differently than most folks. If she mis-hears a word and then pronounces it like she thought she heard it, it becomes a permanent part of her vocabulary and there's nothing that can be done about it. I often have to translate for her to those of us that speak Standard American English.
For example, what you see here is a "basket hound". I've been teasing her about it for 40 years with no results.
Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
April 20, 2017, 05:32 PM
Bombarde32I've got two funnies:
1) A Russian coworker came in from a downpour and, trying to fit in, said in a thick Russian accent: "It rained a cat and a dog."
2) This last February 2nd, a foreign coworker wished me a "Happy Greyhound Day."
April 20, 2017, 06:17 PM
AquabirdWe had a German foreign exchange student years ago, during the first Iraqi war(Desert Storm)
When watching scuds being shot, city alarms were blowing. The news announcer stated that, As you can hear the scud alarms are going off.
Our exchange student laughed and said, they alarms are NOT going off, they are going ON.
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April 20, 2017, 11:45 PM
brecaidraquote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
For example, what you see here is a "basket hound". I've been teasing her about it for 40 years with no results.
I was so looking forward to this.
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"It can't rain all the time." - Eric Draven April 21, 2017, 04:04 AM
PHPaulquote:
Originally posted by brecaidra:
quote:
Originally posted by PHPaul:
For example, what you see here is a "basket hound". I've been teasing her about it for 40 years with no results.
I was so looking forward to this.
I was hoping you'd check out this thread.
Be careful when following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent.
April 21, 2017, 04:53 AM
bashmanI visited my wife's office once, when she worked at a bank with a very international theme to the employees (we jokingly called it the United Nations). While I was in tthere, my wife was having a discussion with David, a fellow Southerner, and Rose, an Indian lady (dot, not feather).
David was telling a story about one of his customers, and how they did something that was going to end up costing them more money in the long run. He ended up the story with the phrase, "I guess he screwed the pooch". Rose's expression was priceless - a combination of confusion and incredulity. It was priceless. My wife and I still joke about it to this day.
A man who does not read has no appreciable advantage over the man who cannot read.
April 21, 2017, 05:59 AM
mikeyspizzaI think it was Ethiopians who at Home Depot who would ask for "medicine" when looking for bed bug killer.
April 21, 2017, 06:16 AM
architectquote:
Originally posted by Jim777:
I know a girl from Russia, she went to the USA in order to work, so she rented a room. When she asked the owner to give her the keys, it sounded like "kiss". He was confused, but kissed her. The situation was really funny.
Glad she wasn't asking for a fork!
An Afghani guy of my acquaintance seems to find joy in telling stories of people who drink so much they "throw out."
April 21, 2017, 06:57 AM
JALLENThanks to this thread, I've had nightmares about my inlaws regaling themselves with my attempts to converse in French.
Some slight mispronunciation might result in asking my mother in law "shall I put my dog in your refrigerator?" or other nonsense.
Oh, they are polite about it, absolutely, but now that I'm not there, they are sitting around the dinner table howling, "remember that time he told Madame Sizac he was an avocado?"
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown April 21, 2017, 08:14 AM
TSEquote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
Thanks to this thread, I've had nightmares about my inlaws regaling themselves with my attempts to converse in French.
Some slight mispronunciation might result in asking my mother in law "shall I put my dog in your refrigerator?" or other nonsense.
Oh, they are polite about it, absolutely, but now that I'm not there, they are sitting around the dinner table howling, "remember that time he told Madame Sizac he was an avocado?"
To encourage me my wife always tells me the French find an English accent very sexy.
Also FWIW I once visited a restaurant in the champagne region that listed barrister salad on the menu
Calgary Shooting Centre
April 21, 2017, 09:46 AM
jhe888My good friend from college is from Memphis. We went to college here in Houston. He eventually married a French woman, and lived in Paris for a while. I can only imagine what horrors he inflicted on the French language. His accent sounded atrocious, even to my uneducated ears.
Still, it couldn't have been any worse than my high school French teacher's accent. Madam Gonzalez spoke French with a Deep East Texas accent. "Bonjour, y'all."
The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. April 21, 2017, 09:47 AM
CaptainMikeMy friend's Yugoslavian wife commenting on my then girlfriend:
"You should stop dating her, she has far too much luggage."
MOO means NO! Be the comet! April 21, 2017, 10:03 AM
JALLENquote:
Originally posted by jhe888:
My good friend from college is from Memphis. We went to college here in Houston. He eventually married a French woman, and lived in Paris for a while. I can only imagine what horrors he inflicted on the French language. His accent sounded atrocious, even to my uneducated ears.
Still, it couldn't have been any worse than my high school French teacher's accent. Madam Gonzalez spoke French with a Deep East Texas accent. "Bonjour, y'all."
Comment allez-vous'all?
You should have heard our friend's French with her Kiwi swing!
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown April 21, 2017, 10:16 AM
tatortoddquote:
Originally posted by TSE:
Also FWIW I once visited a restaurant in the champagne region that listed barrister salad on the menu
Did it taste like shark?
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. April 21, 2017, 11:32 AM
Russ59My MIL is French and has been in the US for over 50 years. She can't do "r"s. For example, I'm "wwwrus" instead of Russ. Her chimney is made of large "wiver wock." Her parents lived in the US for 30 years and I couldn't understand their English.
P229
April 21, 2017, 11:34 AM
83v45magnaThis one, from the movie Overboard (1987), is pretty memorable: Cannot figure out how to embed Vimeo.
LINK
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. -Ecclesiastes 9:11