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If you've ever interacted with someone who speaks a different language, what is the funniest misunderstanding you've had?

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y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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asklemmy@lemmy.world
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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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This is fineđŸ”„đŸ¶â˜•đŸ”„@lemmy.world
5 points

just a quick rinse off in the sink

Bird bath, sparrow bath, crow bath. Terms in some Indian languages for that.

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lars@lemmy.sdf.org
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Wow—please tell us which translations you’re referring to

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This is fineđŸ”„đŸ¶â˜•đŸ”„@lemmy.world
2 points

Translation of terms/phrases for ‘quick rinse off’ in Marathi or Hindi

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