Today I heard a story about a Brazilian man who went on holiday to the US and there he told his host, "I want an extra pillow please" when asked if he needed anything.
The host, this traveller mentioned, seemed a little taken aback and put off at the request. The man wondered, did I say it correctly? That was an odd reaction, I said it exactly the way it was taught to me.
He is generally thought of as a polite man, so what's wrong with this picture?
What's probably the problem here is that he translated verbatim from the normal way such requests are made in Brazil (I don't know about our cousins the Portuguese). "Quero isso" ("I want this or that..."). In Brazil there's nothing wrong with that picture.
However, in other countries it can easily be misconstrued as rudeness. "Try, 'I would like' or 'could I have' instead of 'I want' next time", was the suggestion.
I guess the point of this story was to say: be a patient with non-native English speakers if you ever find yourself in a situation like this. Not everything is meant the way it is perceived. ;)
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 28, 2019, 01:16:10 AM
I guess the point of this story was to say: be a patient with non-native English speakers if you ever find yourself in a situation like this. Not everything is meant the way it is perceived. ;)
An excellent reminder, tho I can't see anything wrong with the way he originally said it. I'm inclined to think his host was a bit tight-assed.
Learning another language can be tremendously difficult (I've certainly never managed it) and the smallest things can trip people up. There was an Asian clerk in a store I used to go to who had the hardest time keeping "from" and "for" straight -- and granted to look at there's not much difference, but mix them up in speech and it's a whole other story.
And there was a Filipina co-worker who had the worst time with gender words, she always defaulted to the male -- "he" when she meant "she", "nephew" when she meant "niece", that sort of thing. Language can be a minefield.
Quote from: Sandra Craft on March 28, 2019, 06:50:30 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 28, 2019, 01:16:10 AM
I guess the point of this story was to say: be a patient with non-native English speakers if you ever find yourself in a situation like this. Not everything is meant the way it is perceived. ;)
Language can be a minefield.
Indeed it can! :smilenod:
It's one thing when regular people commit mistakes in the target language, but another altogether when they're made by huge companies which should have a little spare money to hire a consultant before launching their product in a country that speaks another language?
I'm reminded of a case of a brand name oversight that happened in Brazil last century:
(https://statig2.akamaized.net/bancodeimagens/1t/u2/fg/1tu2fgkzty1w935o5hfa5sn0t.jpg)
'Pinto' is slang for penis in Brazil. it's also the word for 'I paint' and 'chick' (bird), but who thinks of those? ::)
Knowing this, what do you think of this image now? :lol:
(https://samaronebarcellos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ford-pinto-300x235.jpg)
Needless to say the car wasn't very popular here.
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 30, 2019, 06:47:44 PM
'Pinto' is slang for penis in Brazil. it's also the word for 'I paint' and 'chick' (bird), but who thinks of those? ::)
Knowing this, what do you think of this image now? :lol:
(https://samaronebarcellos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ford-pinto-300x235.jpg)
Needless to say the car wasn't very popular here.
:rofl: Not sure I'd ever stop laughing.
Sometimes a Pinto is just a car (Sigmund Freud).
Even when we allegedly speak the same language you can be tripped up in another country. Aussies find it incredibly funny when Americans say that they root for a particular team in, say football. Apart from the part of a plant and other similar meanings, in Aussie English root has an altogether more fundamentally biological meaning. In essence it means to copulate. Not something we would normally consider doing for our team... LOL
Quote from: Sandra Craft on March 31, 2019, 05:08:59 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 30, 2019, 06:47:44 PM
'Pinto' is slang for penis in Brazil. it's also the word for 'I paint' and 'chick' (bird), but who thinks of those? ::)
Knowing this, what do you think of this image now? :lol:
(https://samaronebarcellos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ford-pinto-300x235.jpg)
Needless to say the car wasn't very popular here.
:rofl: Not sure I'd ever stop laughing.
:snicker:
Quote from: hermes2015 on March 31, 2019, 05:21:32 AM
Sometimes a Pinto is just a car (Sigmund Freud).
:snicker:
But wouldn't it be a sign of virility most men aspire to? (Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew)
Quote from: Bluenose on March 31, 2019, 11:35:02 AM
Even when we allegedly speak the same language you can be tripped up in another country. Aussies find it incredibly funny when Americans say that they root for a particular team in, say football. Apart from the part of a plant and other similar meanings, in Aussie English root has an altogether more fundamentally biological meaning. In essence it means to copulate. Not something we would normally consider doing for our team... LOL
:lol:
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 31, 2019, 06:03:55 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on March 31, 2019, 05:21:32 AM
Sometimes a Pinto is just a car (Sigmund Freud).
:snicker:
But wouldn't it be a sign of virility most men aspire to? (Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew)
Didn't Bernays invent that tasty sauce? No wait, that was Béarnaise.
Quote from: hermes2015 on April 01, 2019, 04:44:13 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 31, 2019, 06:03:55 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on March 31, 2019, 05:21:32 AM
Sometimes a Pinto is just a car (Sigmund Freud).
:snicker:
But wouldn't it be a sign of virility most men aspire to? (Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew)
Didn't Bernays invent that tasty sauce? No wait, that was Béarnaise.
I wouldn't know really. The only 'aise' I'm acquainted with is mayonnaise. :grin:
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on April 01, 2019, 05:40:41 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on April 01, 2019, 04:44:13 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 31, 2019, 06:03:55 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on March 31, 2019, 05:21:32 AM
Sometimes a Pinto is just a car (Sigmund Freud).
:snicker:
But wouldn't it be a sign of virility most men aspire to? (Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew)
Didn't Bernays invent that tasty sauce? No wait, that was Béarnaise.
I wouldn't know really. The only 'aise' I'm acquainted with is mayonnaise. :grin:
Mayonnaise and béarnaise are cousins in the world of French cuisine.
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
Quote from: Tank on April 01, 2019, 08:01:46 AM
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
This isn't good. Unless prostitutes bring their own pillows I foresee a serious feedback problem, a self perpetuating, increasing demand for pillows. Worldwide ramifications could be worse than permafrost thawing, I know I'll be stocking up.
Quote from: hermes2015 on April 01, 2019, 06:09:43 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on April 01, 2019, 05:40:41 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on April 01, 2019, 04:44:13 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on March 31, 2019, 06:03:55 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on March 31, 2019, 05:21:32 AM
Sometimes a Pinto is just a car (Sigmund Freud).
:snicker:
But wouldn't it be a sign of virility most men aspire to? (Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew)
Didn't Bernays invent that tasty sauce? No wait, that was Béarnaise.
I wouldn't know really. The only 'aise' I'm acquainted with is mayonnaise. :grin:
Mayonnaise and béarnaise are cousins in the world of French cuisine.
Those French know how to make good stuff...even if the ingredients that go into them are totally disgusting!
Quote from: Tank on April 01, 2019, 08:01:46 AM
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
:o
I did
not know that! :lol:
Quote from: Bad Penny II on April 01, 2019, 09:42:36 AM
Quote from: Tank on April 01, 2019, 08:01:46 AM
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
This isn't good. Unless prostitutes bring their own pillows I foresee a serious feedback problem, a self perpetuating, increasing demand for pillows. Worldwide ramifications could be worse than permafrost thawing, I know I'll be stocking up.
I see what you mean. How are people ever going to have pillow fights when there is a shortage of pillows?
( :secrets1: Should I invest in pillows for the coming price hike?)
Quote from: Bad Penny II on April 01, 2019, 09:42:36 AM
Quote from: Tank on April 01, 2019, 08:01:46 AM
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
This isn't good. Unless prostitutes bring their own pillows I foresee a serious feedback problem, a self perpetuating, increasing demand for pillows. Worldwide ramifications could be worse than permafrost thawing, I know I'll be stocking up.
No added pillows, or blankets, are actually involved.
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on April 01, 2019, 07:09:59 PM
Quote from: Tank on April 01, 2019, 08:01:46 AM
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
:o
I did not know that! :lol:
Me either, maybe it's an English thing? Must make vacationing in England very lively indeed.
Quote from: Sandra Craft on April 02, 2019, 03:30:10 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on April 01, 2019, 07:09:59 PM
Quote from: Tank on April 01, 2019, 08:01:46 AM
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
:o
I did not know that! :lol:
Me either, maybe it's an English thing? Must make vacationing in England very lively indeed.
I first heard it in the USA. Asked in South Africa and it works there too. In the UK it tends to be the larger hotels with international clients that know it. If you're internally speculating how I know this I ask. I have spent years in hotels and I always get to know the staff as they can make a stay heaven or hell if they choose to.
Quote from: Tank on April 02, 2019, 08:19:04 AM
Quote from: Sandra Craft on April 02, 2019, 03:30:10 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on April 01, 2019, 07:09:59 PM
Quote from: Tank on April 01, 2019, 08:01:46 AM
'I want an extra pillow (or blanket) please.' Is a euphemism for 'Can you arrange a prostitute for me please?'
:o
I did not know that! :lol:
Me either, maybe it's an English thing? Must make vacationing in England very lively indeed.
I first heard it in the USA.
Holy Hell. And the number of times I've asked for an extra blanket and gotten nothing but an extra blanket. I must not have gone to the best hotels (damn Government travel orders). :offtobed:
^ ::)
We are now obligated to be very careful about how we select our nouns while in mixed company. Or does PC suck or not? ......
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/americans-strongly-dislike-pc-culture?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Quote from: Icarus on July 05, 2019, 08:36:57 PM
We are now obligated to be very careful about how we select our nouns while in mixed company. Or does PC suck or not? ......
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/americans-strongly-dislike-pc-culture?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Using the wrong pronoun can be dangerous in unmixed company too. I have to say, this honestly surprised me:
Quote from: the articleSo what does this group look like? Compared with the rest of the (nationally representative) polling sample, progressive activists are much more likely to be rich, highly educated—and white. They are nearly twice as likely as the average to make more than $100,000 a year. They are nearly three times as likely to have a postgraduate degree. And while 12 percent of the overall sample in the study is African American, only 3 percent of progressive activists are. With the exception of the small tribe of devoted conservatives, progressive activists are the most racially homogeneous group in the country.
Quote from: Sandra Craft on July 05, 2019, 11:26:38 PM
Quote from: Icarus on July 05, 2019, 08:36:57 PM
We are now obligated to be very careful about how we select our nouns while in mixed company. Or does PC suck or not? ......
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/americans-strongly-dislike-pc-culture?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Using the wrong pronoun can be dangerous in unmixed company too. I have to say, this honestly surprised me:
Quote from: the articleSo what does this group look like? Compared with the rest of the (nationally representative) polling sample, progressive activists are much more likely to be rich, highly educated—and white. They are nearly twice as likely as the average to make more than $100,000 a year. They are nearly three times as likely to have a postgraduate degree. And while 12 percent of the overall sample in the study is African American, only 3 percent (only? that's 25%) of progressive activists are. With the exception of the small tribe of devoted conservatives, progressive activists are the most racially homogeneous group in the country.
So do these highly educated well paid progressive activists see things the lesser souls don't or are they at the peak of Maslo's pyramid and this how they get their zing?
Quote from: Bad Penny II link=topic=16136.msg389216#msg389216
So do these highly educated well paid progressive activists see things the lesser souls don't or are they at the peak of Maslo's pyramid and this how they get their zing?
Why the "or"?
Quote from: Bad Penny II on July 06, 2019, 01:38:42 PM
Quote from: Bad Penny II link=topic=16136.msg389216#msg389216
So do these highly educated well paid progressive activists see things the lesser souls don't or are they at the peak of Maslo's pyramid and this how they get their zing?
Why the "or"?
If being at the peak of Maslo's pyramid means having too much free time on their hands, I'm voting "zing".
This is not about rudeness. It is about language....short read....https://blog.wordgenius.com/british-vs-american-english-spelling/