There are a couple of mails that are frequently circulated that contain a list of all the funny things people say. Some have equally funny/witty replies. We all know them. Here are a few things people have said to me / I have heard:-
On understanding that I lived abroad for a year and a half, a kind looking gentleman asked me, "Were you all alone in a new city, a new country so far away?" I replied, "No, Sir. I was with a cousin and her family. I also had friends there. So I was never alone."
"Oh! You mean you were all alone with you cousins and friends."
Phew! Go get a dictionary, and look up the words "alone" and "missing family", if that's what you mean.
One day, I was at the watch-maker's, waiting for Mum's watch to be repaired, when I heard the lady behind the counter yell into her mobile phone, "You just switch off net now otherwise there is one tight slap for you!"
Its funny how people are good at writing in a specific language and how they goof-up while speaking in the same language. Let me admit that I have had such goof-ups too. I just hope there weren't too many of them! Some of the phrases/parts of sentences literally translated from one's mother tongue to English and vice versa:-
1. "Where/What it is?" for "ते कुठे / काय आहे?"
2. "If anything goes, it goes of me. What goes of you?" for "तुझ काय जात? काही असेल तर ते माझ बिघडत"
3. "I was there only" for "मी तिथेच होते"
4. "I don't believe on that" for "माझा त्याच्यावर विश्वास नाही"
5.And an annoying habit to insert 'the' at will. For example, "Does the (name of celebrity) live here?"
On a serious note, languages are very important. Communication started because of language. It was a medium through which daily life and business was carried on. Every language is as varied as the other. The older the language, the richer it is. There is huge scope for expression in languages. Languages evolve and get richer because people use them. Adaptation of languages is one thing and maiming them is another. It is sad that the importance attached to them has been decreasing in schools. It is time we wake up and start respecting them!
Considering that this blog is about language goof-ups, the following tweet (RT queen_uk) sums up my feelings towards all languages:
"No, Mr Jobs, there is no such thing as American English. There is English and there are mistakes!"
On understanding that I lived abroad for a year and a half, a kind looking gentleman asked me, "Were you all alone in a new city, a new country so far away?" I replied, "No, Sir. I was with a cousin and her family. I also had friends there. So I was never alone."
"Oh! You mean you were all alone with you cousins and friends."
Phew! Go get a dictionary, and look up the words "alone" and "missing family", if that's what you mean.
One day, I was at the watch-maker's, waiting for Mum's watch to be repaired, when I heard the lady behind the counter yell into her mobile phone, "You just switch off net now otherwise there is one tight slap for you!"
Its funny how people are good at writing in a specific language and how they goof-up while speaking in the same language. Let me admit that I have had such goof-ups too. I just hope there weren't too many of them! Some of the phrases/parts of sentences literally translated from one's mother tongue to English and vice versa:-
1. "Where/What it is?" for "ते कुठे / काय आहे?"
2. "If anything goes, it goes of me. What goes of you?" for "तुझ काय जात? काही असेल तर ते माझ बिघडत"
3. "I was there only" for "मी तिथेच होते"
4. "I don't believe on that" for "माझा त्याच्यावर विश्वास नाही"
5.And an annoying habit to insert 'the' at will. For example, "Does the (name of celebrity) live here?"
On a serious note, languages are very important. Communication started because of language. It was a medium through which daily life and business was carried on. Every language is as varied as the other. The older the language, the richer it is. There is huge scope for expression in languages. Languages evolve and get richer because people use them. Adaptation of languages is one thing and maiming them is another. It is sad that the importance attached to them has been decreasing in schools. It is time we wake up and start respecting them!
Considering that this blog is about language goof-ups, the following tweet (RT queen_uk) sums up my feelings towards all languages:
"No, Mr Jobs, there is no such thing as American English. There is English and there are mistakes!"
