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Okay, I'll tell you another funny one, from the US .. with two native speakers.

I was in grad school when somebody introduced me to guy and the way *I* heard his name was 'Keyboard.'  I thought, WOW, his parents must have been music-loving hippies or something!

Months later, I found out his name was 'Tibor,' a fairly common Eastern European male name.

So, the joke's on me!

If you are not familiar with accent it can be deceptive and difficult to understand.

RehabDoctor wrote:

If you are not familiar with accent it can be deceptive and difficult to understand.

Yeah, we all know this.  Now, where's your funny annecdote?1?

Filipino's must he pissed off that their country starts with a letter that none of them can pronounce.

Alliecat wrote:

The first time I heard a Filipina say 'Arabic' I thought she was saying 'a rabbit' and stood there, trying to figure what rabbits had to do with our conversation. 

THEN--as the Brits would say--the penny dropped

They must teach this pronunciation in schools because everybody from the Philipines says it this way lol

You can start with your fellow countrymen why do they have such a problem with some of our county names? Worcestershire and Leicestershire have to be the worst, all Americans seem to want to add about five more sylables in the middle. I can't think of any Brit who cannot pronounce Connecticut.

Think yourself lucky us Brits are an accomodating lot and we make an effort to understand. Mispronounce Paris to a Frenchman and he'll look at you like you've told him your hovercraft is full of eels* (but that's the French for you).

*Cue hijacking of thread by non-English speakers who will now want to discuss why we keep eels in our hovercrafts.

Alliecat wrote:

Yeah, we all know this.  Now, where's your funny annecdote?1?

One of the English mis-pronunciation stories that I witnessed was:

In the company where I work, an Indian office boy asked a Filipino tea boy: “Where is the Copy machine?” and he meant the Xerox machine. The Filipino took him to the Coffee machine instead. The Indian said: “No, no, Coppee machine, Coppee machine, Paper, Paper!

I noticed that Italians and Spaniards overcorrect when they pronounce “H” when they mustn’t i.e. “Hour”. And With words like “HaLf”, they do pronounce the “L”.

gashead wrote:

You can start with your fellow countrymen why do they have such a problem with some of our county names? Worcestershire and Leicestershire have to be the worst, all Americans seem to want to add about five more sylables in the middle. I can't think of any Brit who cannot pronounce Connecticut.

Think yourself lucky us Brits are an accomodating lot and we make an effort to understand. Mispronounce Paris to a Frenchman and he'll look at you like you've told him your hovercraft is full of eels* (but that's the French for you).

*Cue hijacking of thread by non-English speakers who will now want to discuss why we keep eels in our hovercrafts.

Well, this isn't exactly my idea of a funny annectdote--more like a critique!  BTW, any strange sounding US names (like Connecticut, for example) are taken from the original native names for the area. Probably the most famous is 'Mississippi,' which translates to roughly 'father of waters.'

(And keep yer eels t' yerself!! my attempt to sound like an English fishwife )

Alliecat wrote:

Probably the most famous is 'Mississippi,' which translates to roughly 'father of waters.'

I guess the most famous must be Kentucky as of yet

ummm ,

once i was with Arabic traditional gathering in Gold caost . we were introducing our self to each other . And this man is harassing me with questions all over , he is new he said . than he asked for my name ( finally ) i though he will never stop . i was like okay "guess " as like guess where family or my name is " than he said woow your family name is great and i was like ).( ?? HUH !!> i couldnt speak after that ...

Hitch wrote:

ummm ,

once i was with Arabic traditional gathering in Gold caost . we were introducing our self to each other . And this man is harassing me with questions all over , he is new he said . than he asked for my name ( finally ) i though he will never stop . i was like okay "guess " as like guess where family or my name is " than he said woow your family name is great and i was like ).( ?? HUH !!> i couldnt speak after that ...

So he thought your last name was 'Guess' ??? 

Once a Saudi guy and I were discussing traveling.  He asked me about the chicken.  I went on at great lengths explaining how you are generally offered two types of food on a flight, usually beef or chicken.

Nooooooooooooo.. he insisted!  The chicken in the AIRPORT.

I told him that one can bring pets on flights but I've never seen anybody bring a chicken.

Nooooooooooooooooo... he insisted.  Tickets! Tickets!

Then I realized what he was saying:  'Check In' 

A Chinese person saying he is a 'fussy eater'. Pronouncing 'p' instead of 'f'.

Alliecat wrote:

Hitch wrote:

ummm ,

once i was with Arabic traditional gathering in Gold caost . we were introducing our self to each other . And this man is harassing me with questions all over , he is new he said . than he asked for my name ( finally ) i though he will never stop . i was like okay "guess " as like guess where family or my name is " than he said woow your family name is great and i was like ).( ?? HUH !!> i couldnt speak after that ...

So he thought your last name was 'Guess' ??? 

Once a Saudi guy and I were discussing traveling.  He asked me about the chicken.  I went on at great lengths explaining how you are generally offered two types of food on a flight, usually beef or chicken.

Nooooooooooooo.. he insisted!  The chicken in the AIRPORT.

I told him that one can bring pets on flights but I've never seen anybody bring a chicken.

Nooooooooooooooooo... he insisted.  Tickets! Tickets!

Then I realized what he was saying:  'Check In' 

oh my god its soooo funny , chicken check-in

LOL , you must have been like ohhhh check in okay here you go pumpkin

LOL

Katelol wrote:

A Chinese person saying he is a 'fussy eater'. Pronouncing 'p' instead of 'f'.

ouch

i would like  "ongai " Thank you .

When I was in China, I noticed that the minority of Chinese who can speak English pronounce "Zero" like "Yellow" and they pronounce "L" instead of "R". and the only two I met, during my 17 day stay, who spoke very good English, as one of them was a transaltor and the other had spent three years in the UK, both said "She" whenever they meant "He" as "Ta" in Mandrin means either "He" or "She".
Chinese English is the most mis-pronounced English I have ever heard, especially with the vowle tones, as Mandirn has 4 of them, while Cantonese has 9.

Katelol wrote:

A Chinese person saying he is a 'fussy eater'. Pronouncing 'p' instead of 'f'.

I think you mean "Filipinos" as Chinese do pronounce "F".

When I bought my Samsung S3, I could not find a cover / pouch for it. Next day in office, I see my colleague (Saudi guy) with the same phone and a nice leather pouch. So I asked him where he bought it; and he replied - Next to Banda (Panda)..

ghanshyampdave wrote:

When I bought my Samsung S3, I could not find a cover / pouch for it. Next day in office, I see my colleague (Saudi guy) with the same phone and a nice leather pouch. So I asked him where he bought it; and he replied - Next to Banda (Panda)..

This is kind of a common joke, the P/B's in Arabic.  The guy who informs a motorist that there is NO BARKING in a certain area.  Woof!

Okay, let me tell one on ME, a reverse English kind of story.  I was in Mexico, in a very small village on the Pacific where nobody spoke English.  I stopped  into a tiny restaurant and there was no menu and I had to order something so I quickly said 'taco.'

The waitress looked at me in puzzlement.  I said it a few more times, carfefully, but she was totally bewildered so I gave up and just pointed to a guy's plate of beans at a neighboring table.

Later that night, I looked up 'taco' in my Spanish-English dictionary and found that it translates to 'wad.'   

Alliecat wrote:

Okay, let me tell one on ME, a reverse English kind of story.  I was in Mexico, in a very small village on the Pacific where nobody spoke English.  I stopped  into a tiny restaurant and there was no menu and I had to order something so I quickly said 'taco.'

The waitress looked at me in puzzlement.  I said it a few more times, carfefully, but she was totally bewildered so I gave up and just pointed to a guy's plate of beans at a neighboring table.

Later that night, I looked up 'taco' in my Spanish-English dictionary and found that it translates to 'wad.'   

ummm let me step right here and ask what does wad means  ?

Hitch wrote:

ummm let me step right here and ask what does wad means  ?

wad

noun
1. a small mass, lump, or ball of anything: a wad of paper; a wad of tobacco.

2.  a small mass of cotton, wool, or other fibrous or soft material, used for stuffing, padding, packing, etc.

Thanks ^^

Hey, just remembered another one.

Me to an intermediate English class:  "What qualities does a good student need?"

A hand goes up.  "He shouldn't shit."

Me:  "Excuse me??"

Student:  "He shouldn't shit."

Me:  "Huh?  Can you explain this, please?"

Student:  "You know, he shouldn't try to copy answers during a test."

(In other words, a good student shouldn't CHEAT! )

Alliecat wrote:

Hitch wrote:

ummm let me step right here and ask what does wad means  ?

wad

noun
1. a small mass, lump, or ball of anything: a wad of paper; a wad of tobacco.

2.  a small mass of cotton, wool, or other fibrous or soft material, used for stuffing, padding, packing, etc.

Doesnt it mean a currency/money too ?? Not sure......

saimans wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

Hitch wrote:

ummm let me step right here and ask what does wad means  ?

wad

noun
1. a small mass, lump, or ball of anything: a wad of paper; a wad of tobacco.

2.  a small mass of cotton, wool, or other fibrous or soft material, used for stuffing, padding, packing, etc.

Doesnt it mean a currency/money too ?? Not sure......

True.  A WAD of cash.

The word 'chair' in arabic should be treated with EXTREME caution if it's not your mother tongue.

gashead wrote:

The word 'chair' in arabic should be treated with EXTREME caution if it's not your mother tongue.

hmmm.. what does it sound like in English?

I asked how to say 'think' in Arabic, and to my ear, it sounds like 'f*ck it' !!!  I wanted to tell students to THINK! THINK! but needless to say, I was too uncomfortable to say it

gashead wrote:

The word 'chair' in arabic should be treated with EXTREME caution if it's not your mother tongue.

Yeah, Especially when pronounced with a British accent!

Arabic isnt easy ,

Alliecat wrote:

I wanted to tell students to THINK! THINK! but needless to say, I was too uncomfortable to say it

Are you a teacher ???


Now I see why you use this emoticon so often

ghanshyampdave wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

I wanted to tell students to THINK! THINK! but needless to say, I was too uncomfortable to say it

Are you a teacher ???


Now I see why you use this emoticon so often

It's part of my job description, yes!

Alliecat wrote:

hmmm.. what does it sound like in English?

I asked how to say 'think' in Arabic, and to my ear, it sounds like 'f*ck it' !!!  I wanted to tell students to THINK! THINK! but needless to say, I was too uncomfortable to say it

It is "Fakker" (Notice that the Arabic "R" is rolled like the Spanish, Italian, or Russian one.)

to think: has three main meanings in English, hence has three different words in Arabic.

1- to use ones mind!: in Arabic: "Fakkar"
2- to believe: in Arabic: "I'etaqad" i.e. I think he is not coming.
3- to guess: in Arabic: "Thanna" . i.e. I thought it was going to rain today, so I brought my umbrella.

Arabic has also other more specific words for "Guess" and "Believe"

ghanshyampdave wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

I wanted to tell students to THINK! THINK! but needless to say, I was too uncomfortable to say it

Now I see why you use this emoticon so often

Specially for me, becoz I'm her notorious student, ooops !!

Aminstar2 wrote:

It is "Fakker" (Notice that the Arabic "R" is rolled like the Spanish, Italian, or Russian one.)

to think: has three main meanings in English, hence has three different words in Arabic.

1- to use ones mind!: in Arabic: "Fakkar"
2- to believe: in Arabic: "I'etaqad" i.e. I think he is not coming.
3- to guess: in Arabic: "Thanna" . i.e. I thought it was going to rain today, so I brought my umbrella.

Arabic has also other more specific words for "Guess" and "Believe"

So.. similiar to chair in English pronunciation lol

Alliecat wrote:

ghanshyampdave wrote:

Are you a teacher ???


Now I see why you use this emoticon so often

It's part of my job description, yes!

Ah, you take tutions too ??

ghanshyampdave wrote:

Ah, you take tutions too ??

On occasion--but Damman is too far a commute!

saimans wrote:

ghanshyampdave wrote:

Alliecat wrote:

I wanted to tell students to THINK! THINK! but needless to say, I was too uncomfortable to say it

Now I see why you use this emoticon so often

Specially for me, becoz I'm her notorious student, ooops !!

Notorious Jerry (Saimans) & Teacher Tom (Alliecat) or is it Notorious Tom (Saimans) & Teacher Jerry (Alliecat).. Oh I'm so confused. My brain is not working..

ghanshyampdave wrote:

Notorious Jerry (Saimans) & Teacher Tom (Alliecat) or is it Notorious Tom (Saimans) & Teacher Jerry (Alliecat).. Oh I'm so confused. My brain is not working..

Its a weekend time, go off to sleep !! and some months down the line your brain will actually stop working..... So dont get confused !!

saimans wrote:

Its a weekend time, go off to sleep !! and some months down the line your brain will actually stop working..... So dont get confused !!

My weekend starts only at 3pm on Thursdays
Gives very little time to sleep.