Really? About five times a day, in Yucatán! It’s a steam bath in Mérida where I lived. A gringa steps up, sweating bricks, “I’m hot — I could really use a beer!”
I just inserted the [feeling] to emphasize that that’s what we’re really saying when we say “I’m hot” in English.
Indonesian often uses the passive voice when English would use the active. Native English-speaking students trying to communicate in Indonesia sometimes over-correct as a result, producing comical results.
Instead of saying the Indonesian equivalent of, “I sold [stuff] in the market” one student told me, “I was sold in the market.”
And once my husband, trying to be polite, sent a senior Indonesian government official the draft of something he’d written, with a cover letter in Indonesian that attempted to say, “If you would like to correct this, that’s fine.” Instead, he wrote something in Indonesian that meant, “If you would like to be corrected, that’s fine.”
/
When I was traveling in Europe at age 17, one of my bunkmates, trying to feel comfortable with a new language, said, “Well, I guess I’ll go take a douche.”
I’ve made my share of stupid mistakes in Japanese.
Once I needed to use my customer’s phone (pre cell phone days) and asked about how to use their speed dial to call the number, but instead of saying “speed dial” in Japanese, I said “short tool” which is saying that the customer is inadequately endowed. This was in front of the whole office. :smack:
That can be pretty embarrassing. Especially for guys.
My favorite language mistake was made by a friend of mine who told a busload of people he had to get off because he had an erection.
In Panama, when the bus is approaching your stop, you yell out Parada! (in this sense meaning bus stand) to let the driver know to stop.
My friend yelled out Tengo parada!, which colloquially means “I have a hard-on!” In this sense parada equates to “a standing one,” meaning an erect penis.
He says he was surprised about how quick everyone was to get out of his way to let him off.