½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Hahaha, nice one.

Thank you for sharing this little story with us Aidan in HCMC!

At the end of the day, he was just thanking you! (feel free to correct me if I am wrong)

We would like to hear from other members too. Do not hesitate to share your own experience.

Cheers,

Cheryl

I had the reverse really happen some years ago. I was standing in line at a vin mart getting some stuff with a tourist behind me. This must have been in Hanoi. I got up to pay the guy and told him thank you in Vietnamese and the person behind me said,

"they are going as fast as they can. have some patience"

I remembered this other little event which in retrospect I think is humorous but it involves the word pho. You can guess what happened as I visited a restaurant the very first time in Vietnam.

@mpmilestogo

Do tell!

I remembered this other little event which in retrospect I think is humorous but it involves the word pho. You can guess what happened as I visited a restaurant the very first time in Vietnam.
-@mpmilestogo

Reminds me of my wanting to go in to a restaurant for Pho. Corner of Huynh Tan Phat/Tran Trong Cung, Saigon.

The signage was colourful, vibrant. Why not give it a try, I thought.

Turns out it wasn't a restaurant at all.

_______

l PHO l

l  TO   l

l  CO   l

l  PY    l

----------

I stood there, smiling meekly (much like my avatar), looking for where the tables were amongst all of those machines!

On my first attempt to speak Vietnamese I learned tones are pretty important...

I tried to order noodle soup with fish. (bún cá)

Ended up with chicken. (Bún gà)

On my first attempt to speak Vietnamese I learned tones are pretty important...
I tried to order noodle soup with fish. (bún cá)
Ended up with chicken. (Bún gà)
-@RCP79

fortunately you didn't end up being told to get what you wanted at the train station

What do Taliban soldiers eat when the come to Vietnam for R & R ... Tali-Banh Mi ... of course

Well, it turned out that the shopkeeper wasn't saying to me at each visit "Come On!", but rather he was saying "Cảm ơn!".

A Vietnamese saying thanks to a customer?  That is very rare for me. I never expect it.

I mean, I always say hello and cảm ơn *  because that's what Americans do.

In my experience, it is Vietnamese culture to skip the cordialities.

Contrast Thailand where every store-worker says sawadika/p and cop khun ka/krap

*Lately I say Thank You instead because I think Viets expect it/like to hear it.

Followup on my observation that Vietnamese shop owners are commonly taciturn with customers ...

Misunderstanding

In my first month I lived in a Vietnamese neighborhood in Saigon's Binh Thanh district.

I tried the local shops for this and that.

I was put off when I would ask for something. and the old lady (with any other old ladies there also giving me dead stares) would respond with the "không có" (don't have) hand signal. It was confusing, and it felt like they were saying "go away". Not really.

Add to the list that new arrivals should be forewarned of:

(1)  When you ask for something that a shop keeper doesn't have, she/rarely he will not be happy and makes no attempt to hide the emotion. It is as if from the moment you entered the shop, they knew they were going to make a sale, but now you have withheld your money, and ruined their day.

This is anytime. Many tourists already know to avoid being the first customer of the day, and not buying anything. That can generate an even worse reaction for superstitious reasons.

It is culture shock for an American who expects no worse from asking a question than "I'm sorry we don't have that".

(2) Không có hand signal. I can't find an image or gif on the interwebs. It may not be documented. I will try to describe it.

Hold out your arm, and pretend to clutch an imaginary baseball (or cricket ball, bocce, shrunken head, no offense to your culture). Fingers are loose not straight, pointing at the customer. Now twist your wrist back and forth a few times along the axis of your forearm.

It just means "I don't have it", but combined with a sour or blank face, can look angry.

Take no offense!

I confused the signal with the F-off hand sign common I think in some foreign countries:  arm out, hand and fingers loosely pointing down, and flipping left and right. Like a woman drying freshly painted nails.

(3)  Most effective way to shake off souvenir and lottery ticket sales associates: không có hand signal. Use of native language.

Followup on my observation that Vietnamese shop owners are commonly taciturn with customers ...
Misunderstanding
In my first month I lived in a Vietnamese neighborhood in Saigon's Binh Thanh district.
I tried the local shops for this and that.
I was put off when I would ask for something. and the old lady (with any other old ladies there also giving me dead stares) would respond with the "không có" (don't have) hand signal. It was confusing, and it felt like they were saying "go away". Not really.

Add to the list that new arrivals should be forewarned of:

(1) When you ask for something that a shop keeper doesn't have, she/rarely he will not be happy and makes no attempt to hide the emotion. It is as if from the moment you entered the shop, they knew they were going to make a sale, but now you have withheld your money, and ruined their day.

This is anytime. Many tourists already know to avoid being the first customer of the day, and not buying anything. That can generate an even worse reaction for superstitious reasons.

It is culture shock for an American who expects no worse from asking a question than "I'm sorry we don't have that".

(2) Không có hand signal. I can't find an image or gif on the interwebs. It may not be documented. I will try to describe it.

Hold out your arm, and pretend to clutch an imaginary baseball (or cricket ball, bocce, shrunken head, no offense to your culture). Fingers are loose not straight, pointing at the customer. Now twist your wrist back and forth a few times along the axis of your forearm.

It just means "I don't have it", but combined with a sour or blank face, can look angry.

Take no offense!
I confused the signal with the F-off hand sign common I think in some foreign countries: arm out, hand and fingers loosely pointing down, and flipping left and right. Like a woman drying freshly painted nails.

(3) Most effective way to shake off souvenir and lottery ticket sales associates: không có hand signal. Use of native language.
-@gobot

Good observations/descriptions Gobot! Tourists, first time visitors, take heed.

I remember my first introduction to the không có hand signal (can also be performed whilst holding the hand up next to one's head)

It reminds me of our way of signing "maybe yes, maybe no", or "sort of", or "so so", or "not good, not bad".

But as you said, it is definitely "No", "Negative".

@Aidan

Not to be confused with mechanic screwing your oil filter back on.

Followup on my observation that Vietnamese shop owners are commonly taciturn with customers ...
Misunderstanding
In my first month I lived in a Vietnamese neighborhood in Saigon's Binh Thanh district.
I tried the local shops for this and that.
I was put off when I would ask for something. and the old lady (with any other old ladies there also giving me dead stares) would respond with the "không có" (don't have) hand signal. It was confusing, and it felt like they were saying "go away". Not really.

Add to the list that new arrivals should be forewarned of:

(1) When you ask for something that a shop keeper doesn't have, she/rarely he will not be happy and makes no attempt to hide the emotion. It is as if from the moment you entered the shop, they knew they were going to make a sale, but now you have withheld your money, and ruined their day.

This is anytime. Many tourists already know to avoid being the first customer of the day, and not buying anything. That can generate an even worse reaction for superstitious reasons.

It is culture shock for an American who expects no worse from asking a question than "I'm sorry we don't have that".

(2) Không có hand signal. I can't find an image or gif on the interwebs. It may not be documented. I will try to describe it.

Hold out your arm, and pretend to clutch an imaginary baseball (or cricket ball, bocce, shrunken head, no offense to your culture). Fingers are loose not straight, pointing at the customer. Now twist your wrist back and forth a few times along the axis of your forearm.

It just means "I don't have it", but combined with a sour or blank face, can look angry.

Take no offense!
I confused the signal with the F-off hand sign common I think in some foreign countries: arm out, hand and fingers loosely pointing down, and flipping left and right. Like a woman drying freshly painted nails.

(3) Most effective way to shake off souvenir and lottery ticket sales associates: không có hand signal. Use of native language.
-@gobot

Good observations/descriptions Gobot! Tourists, first time visitors, take heed.


I remember my first introduction to the không có hand signal (can also be performed whilst holding the hand up next to one's head)
It reminds me of our way of signing "maybe yes, maybe no", or "sort of", or "so so", or "not good, not bad".
But as you said, it is definitely "No", "Negative".
-@Aidan in HCMC

You can also use it for "don't know and not sure". The Australian Aboriginals also have the same hand gesture.

I was the recipient of không có hand signal just this morning.

I went to a local electronics/electricians shop (not a phone/air con/washer/mp3 store) looking for an LED Driver.

Got the không có hand signal, but it came with a big bright smile from the young lady at the cash. I'd been to the shop a couple of times before, so she recognized me.

Amazing how much a "nod-and-a-wink" on first meeting can net you on subsequent encounters.

Still looking for the LED Driver. Oh well, Lazada it is then.

Followup on my observation that Vietnamese shop owners are commonly taciturn with customers ...


(2) Không có hand signal. I can't find an image or gif on the interwebs. It may not be documented. I will try to describe it.

Hold out your arm, and pretend to clutch an imaginary baseball (or cricket ball, bocce, shrunken head, no offense to your culture). Fingers are loose not straight, pointing at the customer. Now twist your wrist back and forth a few times along the axis of your forearm.

It just means "I don't have it", but combined with a sour or blank face, can look angry.

-@gobot

This now makes sense to me. I also see them make the same hand motion by their ear. Always older ladies. Would that be a similar meaning like "don't understand"? I always thought they were annoyed at me but maybe it is her way of saying she doesn't know what I am saying?

EDIT: read the rest of the posts and I get it now.

A buddy of mine reminded me a couple of days ago of another instance where what I heard wasn't quite what it meant.

I'm pretty good with numbers in VN now, but when I was first learning I constantly made a mistake with the number 4. I'd walk in to a store, ask for 4 of this, or 4 of that (pointing and saying 4 in VN), but nobody could understand me. Turns out that my understanding of the pronunciation of the number 4 was a reflection of the company I kept. I was told that "bốn" (four) is not pronounced as "yo".

I was so used to hearing "má»™t, hai, ba, yo!" that I naturally assumed "yo" (dzo) was four.

A buddy of mine reminded me a couple of days ago of another instance where what I heard wasn't quite what it meant.
I'm pretty good with numbers in VN now, but when I was first learning I constantly made a mistake with the number 4. I'd walk in to a store, ask for 4 of this, or 4 of that (pointing and saying 4 in VN), but nobody could understand me. Turns out that my understanding of the pronunciation of the number 4 was a reflection of the company I kept. I was told that "bốn" (four) is not pronounced as "yo".

I was so used to hearing "má»™t, hai, ba, yo!" that I naturally assumed "yo" (dzo) was four.


-@Aidan in HCMC

Thread hijacker bad joke belongs on LETS HAVE A LAUGH BUT NO FILTH.

@gobot

Bad joke? Okay, here you go

An American businessman goes to Vietnam on a business trip, but he hates Vietnamese food, so he asks the concierge at his hotel if there's any place around where he can get American food.

The concierge tells him he's in luck; there's a pizza place that just opened, and they deliver. The concierge gives the businessman the phone number, and he goes back to his room and orders a pizza.

Thirty minutes later, the delivery guy shows up to the door with the pizza. The businessman takes the pizza, and starts sneezing uncontrollably.

He asks the delivery man,"What the heck did you put on this pizza!?"

The delivery man bows deeply and says, "We put on the pizza what you order, pepper only."

@ Aidan

nearly as good as the American who phoned a scottish pizza shop and asked do they deliver the server said - no just beef, chicken or pork.

@gobot
Bad joke? Okay, here you go
An American businessman goes to Vietnam on a business trip, but he hates Vietnamese food, so he asks the concierge at his hotel if there's any place around where he can get American food.

The concierge tells him he's in luck; there's a pizza place that just opened, and they deliver. The concierge gives the businessman the phone number, and he goes back to his room and orders a pizza.

Thirty minutes later, the delivery guy shows up to the door with the pizza. The businessman takes the pizza, and starts sneezing uncontrollably.

He asks the delivery man,"What the heck did you put on this pizza!?"
The delivery man bows deeply and says, "We put on the pizza what you order, pepper only."
-@Aidan in HCMC

@Aidan in HCMC way beter than miss pronouncing " cat "

@Cheryl   I was riding around the falls and lake in Da Lat, a little heavy on the throttle  realised too late. squeezed hard on the brakes, the front tyre slid out on a patch of couch growing through the bitumen, bike and all going side ways. pretty steep to be going so fast but I didn't go over the edge. A local farmer found me, saw the busted eye brow and chewed some herbs, applying it to stop the bleeding.He followed me into town and guided me to a doctor who sewed me up. I left to go to my villa and he followed me, it was becoming annoying so I asked if he wanted something to eat. bloody billy goat, tough as. the waiter came to whisper in my ear " He wants to F--K you.lucky for me the villas have a security on front gate, when I stopped , I turned and said Tham biet, at which the guards sorted him out PHEW  !!! not ready for plastic surgery