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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 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/asklemmy

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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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[–] maxalmonte14 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Some years ago I was learning Chinese, I was excited and eager to practice after learning only a couple phrases, so one day I see this young lady handing out flyers downtown, I confidently approach her and say "ni hao!" and she replies "I'm Korean". To make things worse the flyers were actually from a Korean learning institute.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

Cue Hallmark theme