y0kaiDec 5, 2024

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

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/32779582

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

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?

Show threadthemeatbridgeDec 5, 2024
I had sort of the reverse, working with German-speaking coworkers. I used the term “schpiel” to refer to a long talk I was going to give. This led to a moment of confusion because that’s not what the word means in German. It means “game” or “play” and in the context they thought I meant to imply that I was not taking the speech seriously, or maybe wasn’t going to be completely honest. That’s probably how the loanword first entered the English language, and its meaning has drifted over time.
Show threadTheUsualButBlaBlaBla
The word spiel “schpiel” is of Yiddish origin. It comes from the Yiddish word shpil (שפּיל), which means “play” or “game” same as German.
Dec 5, 2024 at 6:54pmWeb
Show threadthemeatbridgeDec 5, 2024
Yiddish and German are like Spanish and Portuguese. They are of course different languages, but there is a lot of overlap in vocabulary. I don’t know which language was the vector for the word.