I would just like to add that in all my twenty years, I’ve never heard of “gyro” being pronounced without the “g”. If I were running an establishment here and a guy sauntered in asking for a yeer-oh or some such, I would stare at him blankly for quite a while. At a Greek-run establishment, you may very well ask for a “yeer-oh”, but that’s that only place I would expect people will know what you are talking about.
What’s more important here, being faithful to the mother tounge of your sandwich or getting your point across so you can eat? I know the Kosciuszko Bridge isn’t supposed to be pronounced “Kas-kee-as-koh” but I’ll be damned if can I get anywhere with the “real” pronounciation.
One failsafe way of ordering good Chinese food is to take a Chinese speaker with you.
Last time I went we had 2 muslims, a vegetarian, a vegan and 2 omnivores. There is NO WAY we could have ordered dim sum if my friend didn’t speak Chinese.
No, not really-I’m saying that those people who do that are jerks.
The thing is, in your first post, you jumped all over everyone for getting upset that the employees don’t understand English. Well, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect it in an ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY.
In other words, when I go to a business, I expect the employees to know the native language of whatever country I’m in.
Right. In America, we call the roasted processed lamb in a pita with onions and whatever a gyro. In England and in Germany (and probably other places, but I’ve had experience with these), these are doner kebabs. In the U.S. a kebab is individual peices of meat and/or vegetables grilled on a stick, which may or may not be served with pita or rice. The only modifiers allowed are those which describe what sort of meats and/or vegetables are on the stick.
Most of the stands that I go to in NYC have solved the tazkihi (sp?) problem by calling it yogurt sauce.
I’m not jivin’ you in the least. I live in a very diverse, densely populated city. I never cook, and I frequent all types of eatin’ joints, upscale and not-so-upscale. I talk to many diffenent people, from many different backgrounds, and often the subject is food. I have never EVER heard “yeer-oh” used to describe what I, and apparently most people I know, would call a gyro.
Many Americans can’t speak standard English, why should foreigners? Go to any fast food place in DC and you often get a kid who can only speak YUAAVEWAA (Young Urban African American Vernacular English With An Attitude) which is completely unintelligible and yet that seems to be quite acceptable.
The OP had a perfectly good way of communicating what he wanted and he refused to do it so he has no reason to whine or complain.
If he doesn’t like the place he can go elsewhere. Maybe some other people don’t mind communicating by pointing if the food is good or cheap enough or maybe some customers speak Chinese or maybe they go there to practice their Chinese or maybe some people like not knowing what they will get . . . who cares? If the place does not get enough customers it will shut down. If other people like it and you don’t then just don’t go there and let others keep it in business.
Well I am astounded, absolutely astounded, and the number of places I go to eat where the person taking my order supposedly speaks perfect English and, when I order a hamburger, asks not only how I’d like it cooked (e. coli completely eliminated, thank you) but asks if I’d like cheese on it. No. If I wanted cheese on it I would have ordered this other menu item called a cheeseburger.
Oh, I can get cheese on my hamburger for a mere extra 95 cents? Such a deal. Except I don’t want it. What I expect to see on a hamburger: meat, bun, mustard, pickle, lettuce, tomato slice, catsup. Maybe the restaurant’s version of special sauce, which seems typically to consist of a melange of catsup and mayonnaise. Any or all of these I can do without (except the mustard . . . gotta have mustard), but if it has cheese on it I will send it back.
m-w.com lists “kebab” as being a variant of “kabob” and has this definition: *cubes of meat (as lamb or beef) marinated and cooked with vegetables usually on a skewer *
This thread reminded me of these weird “fusion” restaurants that seem to be popping up…ya know, where you can get a chinese eggroll with your pepperoni pizza, along with a gyro sandwich.
I find the concept pretty strange…but people must like them. The absolute strangest is the korean guy who just opened a place down the road-he has CHINESE, Japanese (sushi) , korean , and spaghetti!
Well gee, that’s all well and good until you end up having to drive to 5 or 6 different places because no one speaks english. Why should they? I mean, why should someone bother to learn the basic language of whatever country they’re living in and attempting to run a business in? Why should they even learn enough basic terms to be able to communicate with their customers? Shit, if the customer doesn’t like it, they can always go somewhere else, right? Just like if I wanted to move to France tommorow and open up a business there, I shouldn’t make any attempt to learn to speak French. Fuck 'em. If they don’t like it, they can shop somewhere else. I understand if someone is visiting a foreign country and doesn’t know the language. I’ve traveled abroad to countries and didn’t speak the language (although I made some attempt at learning basic social ettiquite and phrases) but if you’re planning on moving there and starting a buisness? I think at that point it would be a matter of respecting the culture that you’re immersing yourself in.
Personally I have no problem pointing at the menu but I guess some people are too shy for that.
So you are saying schools in the USA should make sure children who will later be flipping burgers can communicate in standard English? I agree, but I am not holding my breath.
Oh, but expecting them to learn English is culturally biased! :rolleyes:
Here in Florida, our legislature in its wisdom has decided that high school students who can’t pass the FCAT due to language barriers be allowed to graduate anyway.
Which, of course, does nothing to help them once they get into the real world.
[hijack]Ooh, another Wang-Ka story! I think we need a compendium of them! Anyone else see a post with, “I have this friend named Troll” and say, “Oh, goodie,” and settle more comfortably in front of the computer? [/hijack]
What amazes me is flying from a country where English is NOT the language, but everyone in their airport can speak English. Then landing in the US and finding many airport employees don’t speak English.
I often call the beverage in question “Tiara Meat” because of a similar incident at a Chinese restaurant. I ordered Sprite, and she offered me Tiara Meat. It took me about four tries to figure it out, at which point she was repeating, “Tiara Meat, Tiara Meat!” in a frustrated manner.
