Lost In Translation
Language differences can present daunting obstacles to human communication. Understanding each other can be tricky under the best of circumstances. I maintain that even between people born and raised in the same country verbal language is overrated as a way to exchange ideas and get things accomplished, but complicate the process with two different nationalities and it can be a rocky road. In Rome 37 years ago I met the young woman who would become my wife. Early on in our relationship, in a moment of intimacy, she cooed to me, "oh, you are my eunuch." Now that can throw cold water on one's ardor. It turns out she was attempting to translate, "tu sei il mio unico," my "one and only." Okay, the misunderstanding was cleared up, even if a certain insecurity lingered on. I mean, that kind of body slam to the ego can be felt for a long time. Italian waiters get a huge kick out of the American tourists who frequently order "fica e prosciutto" believing they'll get figs (sing. fico) and thinly sliced smoked ham when in fact they're ordering an unmentionable part of a woman's anatomy. Little wonder Ford never succeeded in working through the contract negotiations to buy Ferarri.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:09 AM
12 Comments:
John, this is the funniest yet!! Both the cartoon and the text! Bravo! (I assume bravo means the same in "English" as in Italien...or, forgive me, am I saying something lewd?) Great work!!
I make it a point NEVER to attempt to speak a foreign language. I point and occasionally use a noun. Wonderful story John and another good cartoon. I hope we will be seeing more of Travesty. roger
Do you believe that, Bill?
I don't. I think the more you love someone, the more important it is to apologize
If you don't love someone who hurts you, it doesn't matter, but if you love the person who hurts you, the pain is all the deeper.
I just got back from a production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Towards the end Aslan has a line that resonated with me. Although I paraphrase here, it was something like, "We all have hurt others. Admitting you were wrong is the first step towards redemption".
And I know it is good for the person who committed the transgression because I had a visit last week from one of my best college buddies. He moved out of state and I haven't seem him in years. He came to apologize to me. Even though I didn't think so, he thought he had taken advantage of my generosity in the past. He wanted to right that wrong, and tell me he is an alcoholic, and had been since we were in college. Apparently one of the 12 steps in recovery is admitting past misdeeds, and taking responsibility for them.
So yes, tell the one you love you are sorry if you caused hurt. It will be good for the both of you!
But only, of course, if you really ARE sorry.
yeah, that was totally in the wrong place. I meant to reply to Il Professore comment on Friday's cartoon.
I think I should revoke my computer privileges until I can learn to use it responsibly.
And now I'll apologize even though we don't love each other, because I really am sorry when I do something stupid.
Don't worry Kate... I liked your post! I hope you'll go back and afix it to the other topic because what you said has great meaning... :-)
John... this is sooo funny... and appropriate! As an aussie I sometimes wonder if my words are misconstrued (even tho we all speak english... 80% of human communication is unspoken... and regional semantics aside) it gets tricky "on the net" does it not? :-)
I once asked a waiter in Monte Carlo if he spoke english... then proceeded to order a cappuccino! Duh! hahahaha
A friend who came to see Groucho after his first trip to Italy asked him what he thought of the country. Groucho replied,"I had a good time but why are all their signs in Italian?"
Which reminds me that a fan asked him once if the Marx Brothers were if Jewish. His answer: "We all are except for my brother Chico. He's Italian."
>>I make it a point NEVER to attempt to speak a foreign language. I point and occasionally use a noun. <<
Roger,
Next time you travel try using an occasional verb. You’ll see what a tremendous improvement it’ll have on one's sex life.
Thank you, Jean. You are obviously a kind and caring person.
I'm not particularly deep, but I seem to attract the kind of person who is vulnerable to being hurt and have caused pain with my thoughtlessness. Come to think of it, I've been on the receiving end of that equation, too.
I could add what I said to the correct cartoon, but I don't know how to delete the comment where I put it. With the same comment on two cartoons, I'd look like an even bigger idiot.
Kate, Jean is kind and caring. I recommend her blog, www.jeanburman.com, for her wise and sensitive insights, not to mention her art. I could remove the comment without difficulty, and even move it if you want, but I assure you the "transgression" doesn't even require an apology, let alone an action. Your words are appropriate wherever they appear.
il professore. At my age the verb would have to be in the past perfect tense. good comment though. roger
Love all the comments, Kate, don't change a word. It keeps us on our toes. While living in Germany, I decided to try to learn to speak the language. Since I am tone deaf, it is almost impossible for me to pronounce words correctly even in English, says she laughing. However, being determined, I studied every day for hours and when I thought that I was ready, marched into the fish market and politely asked them to remove the scales and chop off the head on the fish. Everyone in the market started laughing out loud and when I asked what was wrong, the fishmonger told me that I had said, please remove all the buttons from the fish and sell me only the head! We all had a great laugh and I became very popular in that small village since I still tried to speak the language and everyone still had the giggles over my attempts and was very patient with me.
I've spent years of my life in Europe; mostly Northern Europe. When I met my husband, over from The Netherlands to do post doctoral work at our local university, I decided to learn Dutch. It was easy for me, since I already knew German. So I bought Dutch learning tapes and set about learning the language. I did it in secret, so I could surprise him. When we went to Holland together a few months later I decided to reveal my new found language skills at a big welcome home party his brother held for him. When I was introduced I got up and made a 2 or 3 minute speech in Dutch. When I finished, there was complete silence for a moment, then everyone burst into laughter at once.
It seems the woman on the tape I learned from had a Friesland accent... a providence in the northern part of The Netherlands which has it's own language.
I guess it would be akin to a French person giving a speech in English, with a very pronounced southern accent.
Through the years, by talking to Dutch visitors and my in-laws, I've managed to rid myself of that accent. Thank god.
But everyone in Europe under the age of 50 knows English anyway; in many cases better than Americans, because European school children are taught grammatically correct English. And although the shop keepers I've met are very friendly and helpful (tourism is a major industry), it is still a bit demoralizing to speak to someone in Dutch, and be answered in English. Although I'd like to think I don't, I must have an American accent.
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