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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 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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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[–] [email protected] 89 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

One time when I was a kid, we went on a long car trip and a thunderstorm approached. My dad said, "Don't worry about the sound. It's the light that kills you!" My Japanese mom was not cool with this. "No, it's the sound. What are you talking about?" A fierce argument ensued.

So, the words for thunder and lightning in Japanese are kaminari and inazuma, respectively. But that's not a perfect translation. kaminari means something like "peal of the gods", and is the forceful, dangerous part. inazuma is basically just a light show.

English is the opposite. Thunder is just a sound, while lightning can kill you. To put it another way, in English, one word is light + electricity while the other is sound. In Japanese, one word is sound + electricity while the other is light.

Anyway, I was about to speak up when my big brother tugged my arm. "No. This is a popcorn moment. Don't ruin it!"

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 weeks ago

This is fascinating to learn.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They're both wrong, it's the electricity that kills you. Light and sound are just side effects.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

Okay, but try telling that to the people who came up with the words a thousand years ago.