wah-lau, eh.....

expression. how u say things is so important.
the other day a chinese guy came into the gelato shop, bought an ice cream and went to sit down. then he came back to the counter and asked, in a really chinky accent [i can that cuz i'm chinese], for some paper. paper? what? do u want crayons as well? after a few moments of confusion we realised he meant serviettes.

funny things happen when we speak in foreign languages. i remember during a german oral, a friend of mine was talking about christmas dinner or something, he was talking about eating turkey, except he used the word for the country turkey, so he said they were eating Turkey. and in german, i said that it was a warm day and i was hot, which prompted much laughter from my german teachers. it wasn't properly explained to me, but i gather that i used the word 'hot' that was associated with being sexually hot.... so, yeah.

how u say things is also so important. like my bosses in the gelato shop. when u do they don't want to be done, something really minor, they come down on u. it's the linguistic equivalent of using a nuclear bomb to crush a fly. they express themselves in such forceful terms, u'd think that u committed a major crime against the state. i mean, i'm fine with u telling me how u would rather do things, but is it really necessary to treat me as if i'm threatening to undermine your entire business? [which i'm not, of course. of course!!! really!]

language and expression. u can't say it doesn't provide some comedy.