One of the more amusing things about interacting with people whose native language is so different than your own is the occasional ironically misused vocabulary. Take, for instance, the following: during a recent conversation with my friend Chiawei and her boyfriend Chiachi, Chiawei became curious about my motivation for being a vegetarian. She thought it might be a religion thing - lots of people here are vegetarians because they're Buddhist - but she couldn't think of the word for it.
"Do you believe in booty?" she asked.
Chiachi, whose English is near-native and who is somewhat more familiar with American slang, chimed in "I definitely believe in booty."
It took us a while to explain to Chiawei just exactly what it was that she had just said, whereupon she flushed a bright color of pink. Thank goodness she had a sense of humor about it, though; since then it's kind of become a running gag. It makes me wonder what silly and/or meaningless things I've said to complete strangers without even knowing it...
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1 comment:
Whaha
Becca I think u can start writing a book about how your foreign friends speak english.
That would be so hilarious and it would make u rich. :)
Starting wit my buoy, boogie n boobies. And don't forget Norman's 'I'm so hot' instead of 'I'm so embarrassed' ;)
luv
Carol
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