MisunderstoodMy other half rang a courier today to get a disc sent over to a client. The courier company asked what it was she was sending. "A computer disc", she said.
Half an hour later, 3 blokes in a van turned up. They looked a little disappointed to be handed a floppy disc: they were all prepared to shift a computer desk across London.
Have you been utterly misunderstood recently?
(
chthonic, Thu 6 Oct 2005, 23:06)
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Lost in translationI live in the Netherlands, and although I speak reasonable Dutch, some of the local idioms leave me a little confused.
An example: My cat died and I'm all sad. I told my friends about it, who put her arms around me and said "What a pity, peanut butter".
I let it slide, until the same thing happened later in the day with another collegue. And then again...
Finally, I admit I'm confused and ask a mate why everyone keeps offering me peanut butter when I tell them my cats died.
Turns out the Dutch words for Peanut Butter (Pindakaas) and "Oooh, that's a shame" (Helaas) rhyme in Dutch, but just sound utterly stupid in English.
(, Fri 7 Oct 2005, 9:53, Reply)
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