Language misunderstandings

[WarpGirl]

I've got one. A man I knew learned Spanish to help people learn about the Bible, so when the lady asked "How much?" he tried to say 30 pasos (?) Honestly I can't spell in English, how can I spell in Spanish? Anyway he accidently said Basos (?) well a paso is money, a baso is a kiss. Needless to say everyone was quite embarrassed.

[justTripn]

Etymologists immediately begin to imagine the scene two hundred years ago when a Thai man huskily said to his lady, "Look here, baby ... is this as big as a buffalo, or what? And it's all for you!"

She responds, "Oh, honey, that IS a buffalo," with an even lower tone of her own, and the language changes forever....

[Escriba]

I've got one. A man I knew learned Spanish to help people learn about the Bible, so when the lady asked "How much?" he tried to say 30 pasos (?) Honestly I can't spell in English, how can I spell in Spanish? Anyway he accidently said Basos (?) well a paso is money, a baso is a kiss. Needless to say everyone was quite embarrassed.

Just to make it more accurate:

Pesos = Mexican currency.
Besos = Kisses. (vasos -which actually has the same pronunciation of "basos"- means glasses, which is strange enough too.)

Argentinians make fun of Donostia's La Concha Bay. Since for them "concha" is pussy (yeah, the woman's one, not the cat.) If you say La Concha Bay to an off guard Argentinian he guffaws for at least five minutes. I know

[WarpGirl]

Did I get it wrong? Oh well but what about the Conch mollusk. You know the one in the pretty pink shell, that's eaten in the carribian? What do people call that in Argentina?

[Escriba]

Did I get it wrong?

Not really, it's just an "e" for an "a." An understable mistake for the different pronunciations of vowels in English and Spanish.

but what about the Conch mollusk. You know the one in the pretty pink shell, that's eaten in the carribian? What do people call that in Argentina?

That one is called "caracola." "Concha" actually is "shell." And I was so embarrassed then that I forgot to ask how they say "shell" (probably something pedantic; Argentinians are quite pedantic for Spanish standards )

[WarpGirl]

Unfortunately when it comes to languages my talent is picking up sounds and spoken pronunciation. Not the whole writing part.

[Alelou]

Spanish pronunciation puzzles me. If v and b are the same sound, why have two different letters? It's usually one of those languages you can spell easily because its spelling rules are so much clearer than English, but then you get this thing. And am I just imagining it or does r in the middle of a word often become d? To my ear, my husband's friend Rovira is pronounced Robida.

Or maybe that's my pathetic attempt to pronounce it right and Puerto Ricans just let me away with it?

And yeah, I know, English pronunciation makes worse sense.

[WarpGirl]

The only time I have trouble with Spanish is when my aunt, or my friends start talking so fast that the words jumble together, This might sound odd, but Russian is insanely easy for me.

[Escriba]

I'm not completely sure, but I think the b/v distinction comes from the fact that in Latin v was used as an "u", and that in ancient Greek there wasn't any v, but it was later incorporated, and sometimes when it's near some letters (like m, I think) it sounds like b. And Spanish have words from those languages (in fact, most part of Spanish comes from Latin), so maybe that's why?

And am I just imagining it or does r in the middle of a word often become d? To my ear, my husband's friend Rovira is pronounced Robida.

It becomes very soft, that's for sure, but I don't know if so much as to sound like a d. Except for a Basque, we are very known for pronouncing r verrrry strrrongly

For my part, I must confess that it took me ages to catch that the last part in "enough" is pronounced "uf"

[WarpGirl]

My aunt's ex-husband was from Peru, and oh boy did he have strong r's! He was sweet he taught me a lot of Spanish and Italian. But when your name has an r in it you sometime thought he was yelling at you. Hey I was 8!

[Lady Rainbow]

Etymologists immediately begin to imagine the scene two hundred years ago when a Thai man huskily said to his lady, "Look here, baby ... is this as big as a buffalo, or what? And it's all for you!"

She responds, "Oh, honey, that IS a buffalo," with an even lower tone of her own, and the language changes forever....

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! Love this!

One language that is a minefield for misunderstanding: Mandarin (or Cantonese) Chinese. You've GOT to get the tones just right.

[Kotik]

The only time I have trouble with Spanish is when my aunt, or my friends start talking so fast that the words jumble together, This might sound odd, but Russian is insanely easy for me.

I could have used such a talent a couple of years ago Took me ages to cope with Russian's insanely complex grammar. And as people seem to be fascinated with strrrrrong r's - the rolling r of the russians is quite hefty too

[WarpGirl]

Hold on dearie I didn't say I was fluent I'm not. But when I was learning it was very easy for me to pronounce things and learn what they mean.

[Ulva]

My personal favourite is the word fag. Now, I'm no longer a smoker but I couldn't help myself when I was among my American friends back when I still was a smoker... I just had to announce my going outside to enjoy my Marlboro with "I'm having a fag".

[Kotik]

I've been told, that it is less than dignified in some places to announce "I'm randy" if one hapens to have that name