Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
30 Times Language Barriers Made Traveling An Unexpectedly Comical Experience
Interview With Expert
When I was about seven years old, my brother and I went to the clinic my father worked at to sing Christmas carols to his colleagues and spread some holiday spirit. And one of the songs on our roster was the beloved classic Feliz Navidad. Unfortunately, however, I didn’t know very much Spanish at the time, so I ended up singing “próspero baño y felicidad” instead of año. (In other words, I wished them a prosperous bathroom instead of year.)
As embarrassing as this may be to look back on, I know I'm far from the only one who’s made a hilarious linguistic mistake of this nature. Redditors have recently been recalling the funniest miscommunications they’ve experienced while traveling and talking to speakers of other languages, so we’ve gathered their most amusing stories down below. And keep reading to find a conversation with Jhona Yellin, Editor at offMetro!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Went into a clothing store in Paris, browsed through the racks, declined offer of assistance from clerk. After I left I realized it was a dry cleaner.
lenka 1 year ago
Hahaha. I walked into what I thought was a chemist in the Netherlands (apotheek) and started asking for medication. I was turned away without fully understanding why they had refused to serve me. Later venting to my husband about it and he's confused, asks me which chemist I went to. I explained its location (i.e. the one next to the train station). He starts laughing at me... It was a mortgage broker (hypotheek).
Jay Cee 3 months ago
Rubbish. I've yet to see a Dutch chemist that didn't have shelves lined with medication just like the ones in virtually every country in the World.
Load More Replies...
Mary Peace 1 year ago
In dry cleaners in England, the clothes waiting for collection are behind the counter, in the area that's not accessible to customers.
RELATED:
#2
My favorite was when I was in a tiny town deep in the Pyrenees in France just after coming to the country. I was running to catch a train and could hear it coming but couldn't figure out where the station was (pre-Smartphones) and I started panicking. I saw an older couple walking towards me but all of the French I knew flew out of my head because I was in such a tizzy.
So, basically I ran up to this nice couple and yelled "Ooh ay el choo-choo" while making the "pull the cord" motion. This nice couple pointed me in the right direction but they were doubled over laughing the entire time. Couldn't blame them, honestly. Made my train
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago
Reminds me of something that happened to my mother. On a trip to Quebec she tried to talk to a ticket vendor. She is a very small Mexican lady, and although she reads both English and French, she does not speak neither, so she started the conversation by flapping her hands frantically and saying "Boleto! Je ne sais pas how to blah-blah-blah-blah-blah!". It took a while for the vendor to stop laughing to assist us.
SirWriteALot 1 year ago
"Ooh ay el choo-choo" .. this is so funny I'm LOL right now ,.. not the snort through nose kind but actually laughing out loud. Love it :-D "Ooh ay el choo-choo" f**k me!
Leigh James 1 year ago
Whilst vacationing in Cancun, Mexico with friends one of them would would speak to Spanish only speakers like, " Go o to El roomo and cleano, por favor." Yes, he was a b******e with whom I am no longer a friend.
Parmeisan 1 year ago
For anyone with even less French knowledge than me, "ooh ay" would be "Où est" which I think is technically correct for "where is" but possibly conjugated wrong. "el" I think comes from Spanish. And obviously, "choo choo" is English slang - although since it comes from the sound the train makes, there might be similar slang in other languages, I don't know.
OneHappyPuppy 1 year ago
It's le, maybe a typo? And isn't train train in French? Pronounced tren?
Load More Replies...
gerard julien 1 year ago
train is actually a french word and the accent in the Pyrénées area is pretty close to english ! lol
MushroomHead22 1 year ago
"ou est le choo choo" will now always be the way i asked where is the train.
Brian Droste 1 year ago
And they got a story to tell their friends about some crazy person of looking for the train.
#3
I used to live in Japan and when I first moved there my motto was “I’m okay with making 10,000 mistakes daily.” This was my first major one.
I was invited over by a very sweet couple in my apartment complex for dinner one of my first nights. They had a baby.
When I entered the house I wanted to show off my newfound Japanese skills from my paper dictionary. What I meant to say was “ie ga kirei” - or “your home is beautiful.” What I said was “ie ga kirai” - “your home is disgusting.” They kept their smiles up but I could tell they were a bit jarred.
It got worse. During dinner I said the other thing I had learned “akachan ga sugoi kawaii” - “your baby is very cute,” but what I said was “akachan ga sugoi kowaii” - or “your baby is terrifying.”
This time they weren’t so stoic and the dad sort of choked on his food. I asked what was wrong and they told me that they weren’t used to people being so direct. I told them what I was trying to say each time and they looked SO relieved and we all laughed until it hurt. I worked with the husband and everyone at work the next day thought it was absolutely hilarious.
That was the first of many, many situations like that.
Ellie Ahmed 1 year ago
My husband’s practice used to share a building with a small family business. The patriarch was this lovely old Italian gentleman with broken English. The first time he met our baby he excitedly told us she was “delicious”.
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago
LOL! I get it. In Italian, "delizioso" means "charming".
Load More Replies... Iampenny 1 year ago (edited)
I have been living in Germany for a very long time, so even though English is my native language, I speak mostly German on day to day basis. When I went home on holiday, I saw my nephew's daughter for the first time in quite a while and she had grown a lot. I proceeded to tell my nephew that I couldn't believe how gross she had become. Luckily my brother knew that gross in German means "big" and explained it to them right away, but yeah, the looks that I got from my family for a brief moment stick with me until today.
Remi (He/Him) 1 year ago
just don't go mixing English gift with the German one, lol
Load More Replies...
John Smith (he/him/xy/️) 1 year ago
Yeah leave it to the Japanese to have polar opposites just a single syllable away...
Cindy Brick 1 year ago
Don't feel bad. Instead of "gute nacht" (good night), which I meant, I said "gute nach" (good naked) to a guy I barely knew. Boy, did he blush! I did too, once someone explained it.
To learn more about this topic from a travel expert, we reached out to Jhona Yellin, Editor at the travel blog offMetro. Jhona was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and detail some of her own hilarious mishaps when speaking other languages.
"During one of our trips in Paris, I tried to impress a waiter with my rudimentary French. I meant to ask for a 'baguette' but asked for a 'bague' (ring) instead," Jhona shared. "The waiter looked puzzled but brought me a dessert menu, thinking I wanted a dessert ring. We laughed so hard when we realized the mistake."
#4
I hired a tour guide in Hanoi. At one of the stops he explained that we were at the temple of Little Richard. So I ask “Did you say Little Richard?” He nods proudly “Yes, Little Richard!” I’m like “This temple is dedicated to Little Richard?” He is emphatic “Yes! This is the temple of Little Richard”. I want to tell him that I’m pretty sure it is not, but just shrug “okay, whatever”. Later I looked it up and discovered we had visited the temple of literature.
Donna Peluda 1 year ago
When I work as an electrician I had a Indian client who ran a barber shop. When he called me he would say "you cum fix my elicky tricky
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
well he deserves one, to be honest. he is one of the Founding Fathers, in the end.
Capo3Tanya 1 year ago
Oh I needed a laugh and you gave it to me. I can even hear it being said. Thank you!
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
What I'm getting from this is to do your research on the locale before hiring a tour guide.
#5
We were in Rome in an old hotel by the Colosseum. It was very loud in our rooms. My friend went to the front desk and kept explaining to the receptionist that it was too loud in his room. The guy was not helpful and my friend was pissed. He then got out his Italian book and realized he spent 15 minutes telling the guy "I don't like my ears!".
justanotherweirdo 1 year ago
Common Mr. Receptionist, he just wanted some new ears, how hard is it!? /j
Abel 1 year ago
"Mr Receptionist, why dont you have a plastic surgery service!?"
Load More Replies...
BROmanicus85 1 year ago
Neither do I, but I don't complain to establishments staff about them! :))))
"Another time, in one of our group tours in Torino, Italy, while sitting in a lovely restaurant, a fellow traveler mixed up 'pesca' (peach) with 'pesce' (fish)," Jhona told Bored Panda. "He asked for a fruit salad but ended up with a plate of fish. The look on his face when the dish arrived was priceless. These moments, while embarrassing, often lead to shared laughter and memorable stories."
#6
Just moved to france, started new job, haven't spoken french for a long while and am quite rusty. i need to set up a meeting with a colleague. she happens to be a woman. instead of telling her 'let's meet at your room in the office', i translate from italian and say 'on se voit dans ta chambre' e.g. let's meet in your bedroom. she had a good laugh.
few days after, another colleague, still a woman. i need a favor (work related) and in italian one can say 'mi fai un favore' or 'mi fai un piacere'. of course i translate the second saying 'j'ai besoin d'un plaisir' which very roughly translates to 'can you pleasure me'. she also had a good laugh, luckily.
i am proud to report my french greatly improved since then.
Marcos Valencia 1 year ago
More or less, this is how I met my Italian wife. She said 'yes' in both cases.
PFD 1 year ago
Lots of languages use please as a verb to mean "say please"... I knew someone who was working as bar staff in England. Her boss asked if she'd work overtime and she said, "Only if you get on your knees and please me." That was an awkward one to explain.
Dagnirath 1 year ago
Plot twist: she knew exactly what that meant and said it as a power play.
Load More Replies...
Pittsburgh rare 1 year ago (edited)
Some French border police were laughing uproariously after l told them my mum and l were travelling in "deux chevaux" because that's how you call the Citröen 2CV in Spanish (dos caballos- two horses).That was many years ago and on the bright side l learned how to name my car in French
#7
I was backpacking in Patagoina and were trying to re-enter Argentina after being in Chile for a month. The boarder officer demanded to see my sheep's, and I understood nothing, cause I never had any sheep. We got more and more frustrated with each other until the officer went to get a colleague who spoke better English. The other officer checks my papers and again ask me about the whereabouts of my sheep. I explain that I left Argentina on a ship, and that's when it clicked for us. Turns out, according to my documents, I left Argentina on a sheep and they wanted to declare it before I came back.
Steve Hall 1 year ago
Well, they would be comfortable with all that wool padding.
Load More Replies...
María Hermida 1 year ago (edited)
In Spanish there are only five vowel sounds, while English has twelve, so, even for upper intermediate speakers "ship" and "sheep" sound exactly the same. Like "shït" and "sheet", "funny" and "fänny", "gay" and "guy"... The misunderstandings can be hilarious.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
I would have replied to their request "Baa, humbug! Someone has pulled the wool over your eyes."
michele mbennett101044@yahoo.c 1 year ago
Uh, is traveling by sheep common in Patagonia, as opposed to Llama or donkeys? Hmmm, well that sheep has sailed ⛵️
We also asked the travel expert what she believes is the most challenging aspect of learning a new language. "To me personally, the hardest part is mastering idiomatic expressions and cultural nuances," she shared. "It’s one thing to memorize vocabulary and grammar but understanding everyday speech and context is much more challenging, I think."
"Miscommunications are inevitable but part of the fun too," Jhona added. "They always remind me that language is more than words; it’s a cultural bridge. These moments can be humbling and hilarious, teaching us patience and resilience."
#8
I was in Milan recently. I speak a little Italian. It am not confident enough to hold a conversation. I was caught off guard by somebody asking me a question in Italian. I replied with “No hablo inglese” which means I do not speak English…..but in Spanish. I’ll blame it on the jet lag. I’m sure I confused that person thoroughly.
CheshirePhrogg 1 year ago
I used to take in bound customer service calls. I'd get a Spanish speaker and would always, without fail, say "no habla Espanol uno momento sil vous plait". I'm told I confused MANY people
Patti Lever 1 year ago
Years ago got a marketing call at home. Guys says hi blah blah and I reply perdón no hable inglés, he says sorry and hangs up. Seconds later phone rings again and it la the same dude but now speaking Spanish. I'm like damn and say sorry I don't speak Spanish and I hung up. To this say I wonder what his reaction was.
Load More Replies...
Elchinero 1 year ago
In Sardinia, street signs are in Italian AND Spanish ...the island is midway between Spain and Italy ...
pep Ito 1 year ago
Sardinia, South of Italiia, Sicily and Milan Area were part of the Spanish empire
Load More Replies...
Grace Note 1 year ago
I've done similar. I was on a tour of a French chateau and out of nowhere a security guard asked - in French obviously - if I was German. I replied, "Nein, ich bin Englisch." The mad thing is I don't speak German at all, that response was just about all of my German, and my French was more than good enough to respond. I just had a brain f@rt. He looked very confused.
Charlotte Triplett 1 year ago
On more than one occasion visiting France, my mom (who is fluent in both French and Spanish) would start a sentence in one language and finish in another. Once asked for the check in flawless French and upon having it handed to her said, "gracias". Took her a full minute to realize why I was laughing.
BoredPossum 1 year ago
In Milan, they are used to foreigners coming there for fashion shows and stuff, so they just smile and ignore mistakes.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
if you answered in a language that wasn't italian, I think the meaning could easily be inferred
I_imagine_even_worse_w***s 1 year ago
I've done this also but in Spain and spoke italian. What's worse is my conversational Spanish isn't so bad and I know o ly a few phrases in Italian! Talk about a brain fart!
michele mbennett101044@yahoo.c 1 year ago
Nope, they understood you don't speak Spanish or Italian either 😄
#9
In Salzburg as a group of about 15 family and friends. We asked a nice German woman to take our photo. She takes one then says “OK, Back up” so we all shuffle as a group like 3 feet backwards. She immediately starts laughing and explains she meant she was taking a backup photo. Safe to say the smiles in the second photo were genuine.
Robert T 1 year ago (edited)
My parents had a German tour guide on a bus. They were told that their numbers were on their backsides. What she meant is that the seat numbers were on the backs of the seats!
Iampenny 1 year ago
There's lots of Germans in Salzburg too, so it could well have been a German woman.
Load More Replies...
Michael Largey 1 year ago
When she told them to back up, I expected her to run like hell with their camera.
I_imagine_even_worse_w***s 1 year ago
I'd use that phrase all the time when taking a pic for someone! Not once has anyone physically "backed up!"
michele mbennett101044@yahoo.c 1 year ago
"And, once you find your number, please step to the a*s of the bus 🚌 "
Finally, Jhona shared some advice for anyone who wants to try to minimize these miscommunications when traveling. "Learn key phrases before you travel! Greetings, thank you, please, and help can go a long way," the expert says. "Locals appreciate the effort and it shows respect."
"Translation apps like Google Translate and Duolingo are lifesavers, but don’t rely solely on them. Practice speaking and listening too," she continued. "When mishaps happen, embrace them with humor and grace. These experiences enrich your travel and often lead to the best stories."
And if you'd like to hear even more of Jhona's thoughts on this topic, be sure to check out her offMetro piece on why learning the local language is essential for travelers right here!
#10
In Boquete, Panama whilst attempting to buy jeans I spent five minutes telling a store order about my desire to buy pants for horses (caballos) instead of men (caballeros) in my broken Spanish.
Jen 1 year ago
I would have assumed pants for riding horses and would have asked hunt seat or western (chaps).
Load More Replies... Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago
Happens among Spanish speakers in different countries. In Mexico, a "concha" is a type of sweet, sugary bread. In Argentina, it is a rude slang for "vagina". We had one guy visiting from Buenos Aires that almost choked to death in a restaurant when a girl asked him if he wanted a piece of her bread...
Gran Torino 1 year ago
It literally means "conch" (a species of aquatic snail). 🐌 As a side note, in France, a rum ball is called a "tête de negre `black man's head`," and in Spain, a jelly roll is called a "brazo de gitano `Gypsy's arm`."
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 1 year ago
And a narrow hole in Spanish, specially in a wall.
Load More Replies...
María Hermida 1 year ago
In Spain, an Irish friend of mine spent half an hour trying to buy, in her sometimes hilarious Spanish, a pair of "pantalones con pito" (trousers with a dïck) instead of "pantalones con peto" (dungarees).
KatSaidWhat 1 year ago
Ah yes, tried European Spanish in Costa Rica. At least I tried, they politely said...
#11
My sister and I both worked at Target in college. One day she called me on the walkie-talkies when we were both on shift and said: “Hey, I have some Spanish speakers and I have no idea what they’re asking me, can you translate?” “Sure, what are they saying?” “They’re looking for (heavy Spanish accent) an ‘eyes cram ma chin’” I was laughing so damn hard and responded “they’re speaking English not Spanish, they want an ice cream machine!” It’s been over 10 years and it still makes me laugh.
Sky Render 1 year ago
I had something similar happen at a previous job. One of my coworkers asked me to "check the beans". Confused, I said that we're packaging nutritional yeast and not beans. She got irate and said "No BEANS!" I reiterated my confusion, and she finally grabbed one of the bins to show me what she really meant.
digitalin 1 year ago
Stuff like this happened a lot when we moved to the American South. Both speaking English, but it took some getting used to the accent. Once I was so confused why the vet was prescribing a "peel" instead of a pill. Minor example, but one of many.
Load More Replies...
Upstaged75 1 year ago
I had a Spanish speaking coworker when I worked as a hostess in a restaurant. I speak both languages, but as we're in the US we mostly spoke English. The difficulty often came when she was writing down reservations. Because the letter I in Spanish is pronounced like E. I was looking at the reservation book one time and was curious about the Hell party of 4. :) (It was really the Hill party) She frequently mixed those 2 letters up and there were some hilarious names in the book. We knew if anything looked weird it was likely that Flor had taken the reservation.
Sam Cook 1 year ago
Started a new job about six weeks ago and one of the women who is a cashier alongside me was told by one of the managers, "This is Sam's first day." She misheard it because the manager also has a Spanish accent and call me Sams (pronounced like "bombs") all day. I didn't correct her just because I found it funny, until she asked me what my name was again.
Sunny 1 year ago
I had a german-speaking customer one time asking me about car oils in German, I don't speak a word of German but one of the other girls did so after telling the guy a few times that I couldn't understand him and would get my coworker, she came over and spoke to him, after they spoke he turned to me and said perfectly in English "oh you don't speak German?" I was like NO WTH he could speak English just fine but continued to talk in German even though I was telling him I couldn't understand what he was saying
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
Due to brain damage, I process verbal communication slower than I'd like, sometimes missing bits. That's English, my native language. But if someone is speaking to me with a thick accent, like most of my Spanish-speaking neighbors, I miss more than just bits.
Cat Mom times 14 1 year ago
I live in eastern NC and the accents in the mountains in western NC are a lot stronger, I was on a vacation 20 years with my husband and 5:year old son in Spruce Pine NC. While ordering food at a restaurant, my son asked for a hamburger, the girl taking the order asked how he wanted it cooked, I heard how do you want it cut, my son did too because he replied "I want it whole' needless to say she gave us a funny look and I realized what she was actually saying lol.
#12
I was living and working in Italy for a few years, and I really tried to learn the language. My Italian isn't too bad now, but initially, it was pretty rough at times. During that early period, I once stopped in at a cafe' to get a sandwich and a drink. I saw that they had peach tea in bottles in the cooler, so I asked for "tè alla pesce". The woman at the counter gave me the strangest look. I figured that I'd pronounced it poorly, so I again said, speaking as distinctly as i could, "Vorrei un tè alla pesce, per favore." She then burst out laughing. I was ordering fish tea. I should have asked for "tè alla pesca". That's a mistake I definitely never made again!
yo mama's cookie 1 year ago
And then "pesche" means "peaches".. sometimes language can be confusing 😅
Stephen Gross 1 year ago
In French, "poisson" (soft s) is "fish" and "poison" (s like z) is poison, so enjoy that mispronunciation! :)
#13
In Germany, I asked where the badezimmer (bathroom) was, and they were confused and told me they had toiletten (toilets), not bathrooms. Where I live in the US, it would be the same thing asking for a bathroom or toilet (although more typically a barhroom), and everyone knows you just need to go to the bathroom. Apparently, there it matters which you ask for because badezimmer is assuming you need to take a shower whereas toiletten assumes you need to use the toilet. I learned in this experience that just because you know what words mean the cultural context of a word or words is key.
Kari Panda 1 year ago
That reminds me of when a German guest was asking the host where the toilet was, and was told in a rather confused manner: "In the bathroom."
Ace 1 year ago
That's not just a German or a translation thing - in other parts of the English-speaking world we also find it quite confusing when an American asks for the bathroom when they just need to use the toilet. Often they may not even be the same room.
T. 1 year ago
When I was in Shanghai for some hours because I needed to change flights, I had enough time to go explore the city a bit. After finding a restaurant an eating there, I needed to go pee. I tried every word for toilet, that came to my mind and was not understood. Until I made a motion (hand between my legs and saying "ssssss"), to what I was looking for and she happily declared: "Ah, restroom, this way!"
Load More Replies... PFD 1 year ago
You might get the same confusion in the UK to be honest, depending how used to Americans the person was.
Reviewer UK01 1 year ago
There are large parts of the UK where the bathroom and toilet have separate doors, so one room contains the actual bath and another, usually right next door, contains the toilet and sink. Some of these houses have been modernised into a single room with all the plumbing, but many have not. Weirdly, "downstairs bathroom" usually means just a toilet and hand basin, but "bathroom" is definitely the room which contains a bath. But if their toilet is upstairs then that doesn't help. Also as an aside, beware the term "half bath" cos in the UK that conjures ideas of a bath tub which has had an encounter with a chainsaw. This appears on real estate listings in the UK as "cloakroom with WC" but that's not an everyday expression.
Load More Replies... Iampenny 1 year ago
Yeah, I never understood why Americans very often refer to the toilets as "bathrooms". I get it if you're at your house and your toilet is in the bathroom, but in malls, bars and petrol stations, it just doesn't make sense. Are they too embarrassed to say “toilet”?
Vix Spiderthrust 1 year ago
Literally every word for "toilet" in the English language is a euphemism. "Toilet" itself is from the French and means a washroom.
Load More Replies...
arthbach 1 year ago
When American guests ask for the bathroom, I ask whether they actually want to use the bath (or sink), and explain the lavatory is in a separate room, beside the bathroom, or they could use the shower room as it has a shower, sink and lavatory.
Aidan Pite 1 year ago
Add in the term 'restroom' and I can only imagine some of the linguistic miscommunications for that one.
Karen Philpott 1 year ago
In most parts of the world, if you want to go to the toilet, you ask for that. Not ask for the bathroom.
Simon Chen 1 year ago
Unusual. In most german houses it is the same room. The toilet is usually in the bathroom, so it would not be unusual to ask for the bathroom. I can only imagina it confused them because they wanted to be confused. Nobody would assume somebody os going to have a bath if he or she is asking for the bathroom 🤣
Mary Peace 1 year ago
Years ago, ladies used to ask for the 'powder room' because supposedly they just wanted to powder their noses!
#14
I was in Japan a few years ago with a friend of mine. We flew in to Tokyo to stay for a few nights in Shinjuku before using the rail pass to travel around. We checked into the hotel etc then headed out for food and some drinks, my friend had researched a place called Piss Alley to go to, which despite it's name was a good idea. We went into a little restaurant for food and they'd put out a perfectly square piece of tofu to snack on, although at that moment we had no idea what it was. We figured it must be soap to clean our hands before eating, which seemed logical, so at the same time we picked up the tofu and started smushing it into our hands. All the staff and other customers just looked at us horrified, after a few seconds we figured it wasn't soap!
Herringbone 1 year ago
A hotel in Scotland has had to label its complimentary packs of tablet (a sweet - basically solid sugar) that it's not soap, after complaints from foreign visitors about how useless it was.
PFD 1 year ago
My wife and her grandfather, running late, tucked into an emergency breakfast of Japanese snacks on a train. They got lots of odd looks. They figured probably eating on the train wasn't done, but they were really hungry. These were very odd-tasting snacks, but everyone knows Japanese snacks can be strange. Later they found out they'd been defiantly scarfing down packet after packet of instant tea.
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago
My ex girlfriend worked at a Japanese company in Mexico, and realized the hard way that Japanese have a hard time understanding idioms. She was in a business meeting and one of the Mexican bosses was running late. The guy called on the phone and said "Les caigo en dos segundos" (I'll drop by in two seconds). She says that the Japanese guy checked his watch and then looked up, as for waiting the guy to literally fall down from the ceiling.
María Hermida 1 year ago
Everybody has a hard time understanding idioms in foreign languages! Also, the concept of time is very different for a Japanese and a Mexican. For the Mexican people I know (and unfortunately for a lot Spanish people, too) five minutes could be at least half an hour.
Load More Replies...
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
Went into a Vietnamese restaurant while visiting a city, a server took our orders and placed a bowl with dark green/purple leaves before us. Not knowing what they were or why they were there, we began nibbling on them. We identified them as a spicy basil and continued nibbling while all the Asian patrons gave us furtive looks. We didn't know that Thai basil is a common garnish for Vietnamese noodle soup.
Beachbum 1 year ago
Why would you be served soap at the table in a restaurant? I’d be horrified too.
Mary Peace 1 year ago
Lots of restaurants give you wet clean-up tissues, like wet-wipes, because people may have sticky fingers after eating with their fingers. I suppose some soap might work without water.
Load More Replies... #15
Ive posted this before in a similar thread, but English is not my first language. We were visiting chicago. I had been to New York before so I knew of the subway there. I did not realize the term ‘subway’ was unique to the style of train. We couldn’t find where to get on the railway in Chicago so stopped at a gas station and I asked how to get to the subway. The guy gave me directions. We walked about 20 minutes, turned the corner to where he said it’d be, and found the restaurant Subway. It was such a funny moment.
Robert Trebor 1 year ago
Chicago calls it the el, even if it's downstairs for a while. New York calls most of the system the subway, even if it's upstairs for a while.
Grace Note 1 year ago
The tube is still the tube in London even when it's overground but I guess tube doesn't scream underground anyway. :-)
Load More Replies...
Upstaged75 1 year ago
It depends on where you are. In Chicago it's the El (elevated train) and Boston it's the T. New York is the Subway. And here in DC it's called the Metro.
Load More Replies...
Strahd Ivarius 1 year ago
In Paris, my wife and me were asked by a couple of elderly American tourists where the subway was. We trying to show them where the nearest Metropolitain station was, when they were looking for a Subway... In Paris... Bloody savages!
Don't listen to me 1 year ago (edited)
Much easier in europe. It's the metro everywhere. Can also be downstairs (usually in town) or upstairs (out of town).
Gran Torino 1 year ago
Compounding this language barrier, in England "subway" means an underground walkway used to avoid motor vehicle traffic (what Americans typically call a "pedestrian underpass"). In London, one typically refers to the commuter train as the "Underground" or "Tube."
Gregg Levine 1 year ago
Sometime ago I got asked by a couple of English tourists where the Red line was. I pointed towards the GCT subway, and also asked if they knew which number they wanted. Then it clicked, they wanted the Six. Yes this is a NYC problem.
#16
First time in Spain, this is 16 years ago. I didn't speak a word of Spanish when I went there, but I had to learn because not many people spoke English. You always speak about weather, right? And it was hot, end of July, beginning of August. I had this tiny English-Spanish wordbook, no Google translate at that time. Just saying, it's a miles wide difference between "hace calor" and "estoy caliente". I just thought it meant that I feel hot, because it is very sunny and high temperatures. Turned out, that what I was saying had a whole different meaning. A nice Spanish girl told me not to say it like that, because yeah, it means I am hot - but like in sexy, not because of the weather. I wished the ground would swallow me. I had been using that phrase for at least two weeks. I was sooo embarrassed. Nowadays, it's a funny story.
Iampenny 1 year ago
On the plus side, I would assume, while funny, every knew what you meant, so no need to be too embarrassed. It happens so often in different languages, in Germany a lot of non-German speakers will say "Ich bin heiß" (like being sexy) instead of "mir ist heiß".
Kari Panda 1 year ago
A student whom I had helped told me she is 'heiß aufs Lernen' ('hot for learning') ^^ One of my favourite work memories.
Load More Replies...
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago
It's a good thing you made that mistake in Spain and not in Mexico. In Mexico, "estoy caliente" means "I am horny".
SirWriteALot 1 year ago
In german it would be "Ich bin heiß" vs "Mir ist heiß" ... "I'm hot" in english both times. Heh heh
#17
When traveling solo in Vietnam, I boarded a public ferry in the lower delta. I noticed that everyone on board was white and dressed kind of fancy, but I figured it was just Europeans traveling in SE Asia. Then, 15 minutes into the ride someone started pouring champagne and passing it around to passengers. I was impressed with the service on a public ferry… The person pouring champagne got to me and gave me a puzzled look as I reached for a glass. It was then I realized I got on a private boat. We had a good laugh and they dropped me off at the next public ferry dock.
Zedrapazia 1 year ago
My best friend accidentally ended up at a stranger's wedding this way in Japan, but nobody noticed she didn't belong there so she just had a fun day there.
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
Stuff like this has happened to me in the US. I'm an American. I should know better.
#18
I introduced my boss as my egg while in Colombia for work.
elmortero 1 year ago
Now I want to know what you said.. because I not aware of any word for boss that you'd mix up with huevo
#19
At a restaurant in Yogyakarta, a woman approached me and asked if I was finished? I said "not yet but I won't be long" she said "no, are you finished?" I said "look I'm a fast eater, I really won't be long, do you really need this table?" To which she said "no, are you from Finland?" Lmao.
Robert Trebor 1 year ago
English to English can be confusing: I asked a sailor who was cleaning up a room, "Are you done?" He said, "Yes," and continued working. I saw that the name DUNN was stenciled on his shirt: Rewind. "Are you finished?" "Not quite."
SirWriteALot 1 year ago
Do you have Beaujolais? Sorry, Beaujolais is finished. No it's not. Yes it is. No it's not, Beaujolais is french, not finnish.
Liz The Biz 1 year ago
This reminds me of a TV programme that was on in the 1980s called That's Life. They were doing an feature about food and asked random people in the streets if they wanted to try out a new snack food that had just come out. The presenter went up to a man and asked, are you peckish (are you hungry)? He looked at her absolutely bewildered and replied, "No I'm Turkish."
Mary Peace 1 year ago
I remember that programme, but if someone asked me that I would have said, "No, I'm Mary."
Load More Replies... Aada 1 year ago
The opposite happened to me in thailand. I was eating and the waiter asked ”Are you finished?” I thought he was asking if i was Finnish so I answered yes. He then proceeded to take my plate away even though I wasn’t finished and I felt very embarassed so I didn’t correct him what I meant
#20
My boyfriend visited me when I was living in France and kept mixing up “excuse me” and “thank you.” Pretty simple and harmless, but the scathing looks every time he bumped into an old lady and thanked her were withering and priceless.
PFD 1 year ago
Is it usual to persistently bump into old ladies?! It's not something I'm aware of doing, like, ever. Maybe I'm just unaware and have been leaving a trail of flattened nans behind me.
Val Wild 1 year ago
Now I keep seeing a trail of flattened nans... Men this post has me in stitches
Load More Replies... 
Capo3Tanya 1 year ago
So many of these are making me laugh, that's priceless these days thank you 💖
SirWriteALot 1 year ago
hmm, not sure if "excusez moi / pardon" and "merci" are really that mix-uppable. Especially if it sounds similar in english.
_physically_insane_(he/him) 1 year ago
How do you mix up ‘ excusez-moi’ and ‘merci’? They don’t sound very similar.
Brandon Parisien 1 year ago
How does one say excuse me in France? In Canada it sounds like excuse me...which is hard to confuse with Merci...
#21
At a hostel in Nicaragua I said in Spanish “I’d like to poo here for five days” instead of “I’d like to stay here for five days” (cagar vs quedar) 💩.
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 1 year ago (edited)
I do hope the hostel manager understood what you meant, because some Latin Americans can really take offense to it, especially in that context. In Mexico and most of Central America, "Cagar" is not exactly "poo", but quite literally "take a sh!t" and it is not something you say in a polite conversation.
Matthew Savestheworld 1 year ago
This goes for Ecuador too. It does mean to poo, but in the rudest way.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 1 year ago
Well, if you stayed there for five days, what you literally said would probably turn out to be true.
michele mbennett101044@yahoo.c 1 year ago
Stop trying to use high school Spanish, you weren't paying attention during class all those years ago! 🙄
#22
My Thai friend taught me how to ask for a glass of red wine and fried shrimp... or so I thought. I ordered and once the staff and my friend stopped laughing they let me in on the joke. I asked for red chicken and fried mosquitoes
DudeFortitude (He/Him) 1 year ago
I thought "well done" is for steak, not chicken... 🤔 /jk
Load More Replies...
Lee Banks 1 year ago
A buddy moved to Germany not knowing a single word. The first time he went out to eat, he asked a friend what to order. He proudly repeated what he was told, and the waitress slapped him so he's he fell off the stool. What he'd been instructed to say was "I'd like to ejaculate on your ample bosom." Friend died laughing. Once it was explained what had happened, the waitress laughed, too.
Felix Quinones 1 year ago
A former roommate of mine when I was in the army told the story of the DOD language school at Presidio of Monterey. The service members decided to celebrate by traveling to San Francisco's Chinatown and put into practice what they learned. The service members all took Mandarin as the language they trained for. Everyone except for one chickened out in ordering in the new adopted language. When the brave service member turn he ordered in Mandarin and was surprised when a barbecued hog's head was brought out. He didn't have enough money to cover the cost, so a collection was made from among the other service members.
Katchen 1 year ago
In my experience, most Chinese speakers in San Francisco’s Chinatown speak Cantonese, not Mandarin.
Load More Replies... Dumb teenager 1 year ago
Either the words sound similar or your friend has a good sence of humor
#23
My partner is allergic to peanuts and in Japan we used Google translate to communicate it.
It worked well except in one cafe where the waiter came back with a Google translate screen saying there might be peanuts in the poodle.
#24
The Greek word for 'yes' is 'nai,' which sounds negative. The situation we experienced was:
Me: Excuse me, could you tell me if this is the way to the Acropolis?
Elderly locals in Greece: Nai.
Me: Ah, I see. Well, thank you anyway. I'll try to find another route. (As it was clear that they do not understand English very well)
As we turn around, the locals are left bewildered, even though they just confirmed that we are on the right path.
Later on, we realized that in the Greek language, 'nai' means 'yes,' even though it sounds negative. We've been going in the right direction! We made fun of this until the end of our vacation. :D.
Marcos Valencia 1 year ago (edited)
I live in Valencia, Spain, and the map in the image is... yes, a touristic map of Valencia. That means nothing, but, hey!
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
I must remember this if I ever get to go to Greece, because nai sounds exactly like no in Danish.
Gran Torino 1 year ago
Part of the problem relates to just how much Greek has changed over the ages! I once asked where I could purchase "hydro `water`," and people couldn't understand me. It turns out than—in this millennium—they call water "nero `coolness` or `freshness`."
Brittania Kelli 1 year ago
Come on, when you go to a foreign country you surely look up a few very simple words and phrases, like; yes, no, please, and thank you...
OneWithRatsAndKefir 1 year ago
Perhaps they forgot? Or maybe they had a brain fart and heard ‘no’; as an immigrant kid who was encouraged to use English over Latvian and eventually forgot the latter, I used to wrongly think ‘pa kreisi’ meant right and ‘pa labi’ meant left because pa kreisi had ‘r’ and pa labi’ had ‘l’ in it. Not the same thing, I know, but it made sense to my kid brain until I noticed what was being said and what direction was being taken didn’t match (Pa kreisi is left. Pa labi is right)
Load More Replies... #25
I was getting robbed by 5 dudes with a knife against my throat in Santa Marta, Colombia. In the chaos I kept trying to say "it's okay amigo, no problem amigo" but it kept coming out as "amor" instead. I didn't realise until after it was over that I kept referring to my muggers as my lovers.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
When someone has a knife at your throat, it's ok to sweet talk them as much as possible.
#26
I went to France as a teenager and our lovely guide at the monastery was showing us where the monks washed the pilgrim’s feet, just like how Jesus washed the applesauce feet (keep in mind I have never been a church goer or bible studier). Applesauce feet? Yes, applesauce feet. she meant apostle.
Jay Scales 1 year ago
I think it works - you have to say them with a french accent: 'apostles'... 'applesauce'
Dan Maier 1 year ago
I just laughed way too hard saying apostles with a French accent. Like, WAY too hard.
Load More Replies...
Gustav Gallifrey 1 year ago
when i first began to learn French, i did a Q&A session with my teacher. He asked me some questio0ns about the children (les enfants), which i heard as 'les elefants' (the elephants). His questions and my answers had us both laughing our heads off, when we sorted out the confusion and reviewed the episode.
Mat O'Dowd 1 year ago
Sorry, but this one doesn't work with Apostle. In French the confusion comes from the similarity between compote (Apple sauce) and Compostelle (the pilgrims of Compostel Aka The Way of St. James or the Camino de Santiago in Spanish).
just-a-bored-human 1 year ago
like jay said, you have to say them with a french accent: 'apostles'... 'applesauce'
Load More Replies... #27
Tried to teach a Japanese gentleman how to make puns in English (he was an English teacher). We were in a restaurant so I picked up my glass of water and said: “Hey, water you doing now?” (bad pun but it was just for educational purposes).
He laughs and says: “Oh yeah I get it! So, hey bro… potato salad!”
I laughed so hard that he thought he had made a great pun.
Kari Panda 1 year ago
I think it could have been such a lovely pun if he‘d said 'brotato salad‘.
#28
I was in an electronics shop in Mexico trying to buy a new charging cable. With myself speaking no Spanish and the young guy behind the counter speaking no English, he pulled out google translate on his phone.
Into which I typed 'micro-usb' in English, which happened to come up as 'micro-usb' in Spanish.
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago
Why not hold up your phone and make a motion showing how you plug a charger in - way easier
Katchen 1 year ago
Makes me think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer miming staking a vampire, but it really just looks like a wanking gesture.
Load More Replies... nottheactualphoto 1 year ago
The stock photo looks like it might actually be a micro USB! I guess it's the End Times...
Riley Quinn 1 year ago
It's the pronunciation. I recognize my neighbors speaking in English, but I'll miss chunks of the conversation due to the way they pronounce certain words. It's like being on a cell phone cutting out. When I lived briefly in the Midwest, no one understood my thick Boston accent. Took a minute to adjust.
SunnyBlueSkies 1 year ago (edited)
In the '90s I had to ask my French host family to repeat themselves 3-4 times before I understood they were saying "Bill Clinton." (I'm American)
Load More Replies... 
#29
I ordered a Diet Coke in Tegernsee in Bavaria and got delivered a vegetarian Thai red curry. Still ate it.
SirWriteALot 1 year ago
How? "Cola light / Cola Zero / Coke zero / Zuckerfreie Cola" does not make a "curry" in any stretch of the imagination. Must have been a mixup
Nel Cameron 1 year ago
I once ordered a Caesar, as in the lovely drink made with vodka, Clamato juice and spices. The server brought me a salad. It was good.
Katchen 1 year ago
I also think a Caesar is a salad and your drink is a Bloody Mary.
Load More Replies...
Strahd Ivarius 1 year ago
at a game shop, I ordered once a Clue game and got a Tim Curry, I can relate...
#30
I tried to explain my aussie housemate that i have problems with my "gum". I translated it 1:1 from german, i created "toothmeat". He had a big laughter.
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago
People laugh about german words, but they are still understandable if translated directly ^^
Iampenny 1 year ago
Yes — dust sucker (vacuum cleaner), drive thing (car), fly thing (aeroplane) hand shoes (gloves) the list is equally endless and hilarious.
Load More Replies...
Karma Black 1 year ago
Maybe I'm weird, but I'm learning German and find the German word for "gloves" to be incredibly adorable. Handschuhe. Hand shoes. Also, "Schildkröte". Shield toad. It's the word for tortoise. I THINK it's for turtle as well. There are plenty more that I love, mostly animal names; but I can't really think of them at the moment.
Peet 1 year ago
In German there is no difference in tortoise and turtle. Both are just Schilkröten. But maybe you like Nashorn, nose horn = rhinoceros 😉 Although there is Rhinozeros in German.
Load More Replies... cerinamroth 1 year ago
I love German so much for this. Even if you don't know the technical words for things, you can cobble something together from the words you know and chances are, it'll be correct or someone will at least understand you.
Iampenny 1 year ago
When I first moved here, I made up loads of words to get my point across, for the most part people knew what I meant right away. Sometimes my "made up" word was actually correct and I would get compliments on how good my German had become to know such words :D
Load More Replies...
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
My Portuguese friend (whose English is 99% fluent since she grew up here) used to ask for the "brushteeth" (toothbrush) and tell me to open and close the light.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
this, and other words that are literal, are similar in Dutch. I never thought of toothmeat though
Stephanie Longo 1 year ago
My cousin in law came to visit and asked me for hand shoes. She's German and I am American
Misunderstandings in language can sometimes be traced back to how words and spellings evolve differently in various cultures. For readers interested in the history behind such differences and how certain spellings became standardized in America, our detailed explanation of the origins of American English spelling offers valuable context. It sheds light on the fascinating role of language reformers in shaping the words we use today: the evolution of American spelling.
#31
I was ~16 and working in a kitchen, trying to explain to my coworkers that my dad was a lawyer. I said he was an “albóndiga” (meatball) instead of an “abogado” (lawyer). It took them a solid few minutes to keep it together long enough to explain my mistake to me. Oddly enough, my dad is on the heavier side, so once I was shown the error of my ways, I told them my original response still held. .
Chocolate llama 1 year ago
Once in Paris, we went to get a poké bowl for lunch. Our French is not that great, so we set the ordering machines to German. We had a good laugh at all the "avocado" options being translated to the German word for lawyer. We are still joking about "do you want some extra lawyer with your rice?"
Robert Trebor 1 year ago
I have always been energized by being represented in court by a slimy green fruit.
Load More Replies...
#32
My wife and I were traveling in Peru where you have to haggle over every price, especially taxi rides. The following exchange took place in broken Spanish.
Wife: How much to get to
Jay Cee 3 months ago
My ex-wife had a thing about elephants. In southern Spain there a Senegalese street trader selling small model elephants made of resin. Now my Spanish wasn't great back then but hers were worse. He said 750 (pesetas - it was a while ago!) She said No way! 250! He looked shocked and tried 500? Shake of the head 400? He wavered and suggested 300 She looked firm and said 550 His eyebrows shot up and he said OK!
HangryHangryHippo 1 year ago
In Spanish: 13 Trece/ 30 Treinta. Not sure how that happened as they sound much more similar to each other in English than in Spanish 😅
#33
I was in Kyrgyzstan, but both people spoke English in this situation, just not perfectly. Was more of a “misheard” rather than “mistranslation”. Checked into a hotel, went to my room, realised I didn’t have a wifi password so went back to reception. Asked for the password, the girl there insisted she had already given it to me and got quite heated in her insistence. So I said “if you gave it to me, I’ve lost it”. So she demanded to come up and search my room. And I was kind of bemused, I didn’t see why she couldn’t just give me a copy but thought maybe there was a unique access code or something. She comes in to my room, walk around a bit, grabs my passport from the bedside table and waves it in my face yelling “See I told you I gave it back to you” At which point I fell on the bed laughing and said “Wifi password, not passport”. To which she pointed at the piece of paper on the back of the door that had the password on it. Weirdly we got a long quite well during the time I was there and I ended up going to her cousins wedding in another city.
#34
Was in a bar deep in the Australian outback, past Alice Springs, and wanted to buy a round of beer for my friends. Asked the bartender for a pitcher of beer, to which he looked perplexed and handed me a postcard with a photograph of a VB roadtrain (massive transport truck with Victoria Bitters branding) on it and said that was the best he had. We realized to an Aussie my Canadian accent made 'pitcher' and 'picture' indistinguishable. He poured me a jug of beer.
Ace 1 year ago
Not so much your accent, just the choice of words, or possibly the concept itself. Jug might have worked better, although in some places that would just mean a drinking vessel with a handle, and indeed would often be asked by the barperson in a UK pub when ordering beer ( back in the day, probably not so much now).
#35
In 2001 I was in Italy and needed a bus ticket in La Spezia to get to Cinque Terre, and I only knew little Italian but asked a store clerk how to buy the tickets. They told me a machine outside the bus sells the tickets. I walk to the bus and see a machine across from it with instructions in Italian. People are loading on the bus and sort of waiting on me and watching as I fumble with the machine, figuring if I stuff in enough money, a ticket has gotta pop out. Stuff in money, machine acts like it’s good, press button. Out comes a CONDOM lmaoooooo. I’m all stunned and turn around to the bus and all its passengers while holding this magic condom, and THERE is the ticket machine BEHIND me and NEXT TO the bus, notttttt across from it. Lol.
#36
We recently were in Amsterdam. The hotel we were staying at had sent us an email a couple days before to fill out our information-names, emails, passport info, etc. My wife had done it already to speed the check-in process. Apparently it’s rare that people do that ahead of time, because the woman who checked us in (age 30-ish I’m guessing) at the hotel made a comment about “oh that’s great you’ve done this, most people don’t” and my wife replied “I guess I thought we had to.” Hotel lady came right back with “we appreciate it, you’re so neurotic!” I stifled a laugh. I’m not sure if a) she was looking for a word meaning “on top of things” and missed, b) that was the word she intended to use, but she doesn’t fully understand the meaning or know it can have a negative connotation or c) she meant what she meant..lol. The Dutch are known to be blunt. The way she said was positive and even with the Dutch being blunt, I don’t think hospitality workers would intentionally insult their customers, so I’m pretty sure it’s mostly a) with a little bit of b). Either way it was funny and we joked about it the rest of the trip. E: I included age only because this is the kind of flub I might have expected from someone older. It’s my understanding that the older one is in Europe, the less English training they would have had in school. That’s what I’ve been told previously anyway.
Susie Elle 1 year ago
Knowing the Dutch, she did jokingly mean you were being neurotic, and that she appreciated you being so ;) It's a joke, we sometimes call ourselves neurotic or whatever when you 'neurotically take care of something because you thought you had to or wanted to make sure things were in order'.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
i really doubt she called her that on purpose. strangest thing is that its almost the same in Dutch so she should know what it means.
Verena 1 year ago
Last sentence is fairly outdated. Everybody born after 1955 had several years of training in English during their school career. However, not everybody is using it actively, so it might be rusty. Like somebody from English-soeaking countries who attended Spanish or Frenchblessons between the age of 11 and 16 and are now in their 50s, travelling in Spainor France
#37
On a guided tour recently in Toledo, Spain, and the tour was in Spanish and English. English was the guide's second language, and she really did a fantastic job. However, when talking about the history of the city, she noted the time of the "Spanish Indecision" and its impact on the city. Me and the few other English speaking tourists had a little chuckle.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
Their chief weapon is confusion! Confusion and fear! Fear and confusion!
Load More Replies...
Jeremy James 1 year ago
"Where should we cleanse the heretics this week?" "Oh, I don't know. You pick."
#38
Okay, I was in Tibet with my parents, my father knows a little about Chinese and like showing off. We were in a bus and he tried to give his seat to an aged woman saying "ny shi fyu nv", which means you are woman. But he didn't pronounce it well, and pronounced like "ny shi chiu nv" which means "you're a virgin" That attracted all the attention of the bus.
#39
My first night in my small village in Japan, my translator had left for the night, and I was staying in a kind of community inn. A woman brought out my dinner, which included a small thing that I thought looked like some kind of berry on the rice (it was an umeboshi). She seemed very excited about it, pointed at it and said a bunch of things that I didn’t understand. I figured it was probably a local favorite or something and she was urging me to taste it, so I popped it in my mouth. Wow, it was sour, and hard…but I wanted to be polite so I attempted to crush it in my teeth and eat it without showing my surprise but instead showing her I liked it. I literally at it, pit and all, because I hadn’t realized there was a pit, and once I was that far in, it was already shattered in my teeth. After a good minute or so, I finally managed to swallow it. All the while she stared at me wide eyed. I was finished, and smiled at her, but she was stuck, just staring at me wide eyed and confused. So, I kind of opened my mouth a bit to show her, “look, I ate it all!” And she gasped in shock, then chuckled a little, then walked away perplexed. It was so awkward. Only months later did I realize that she was warning me about the sourness and the pit and I think I’m the first (and probably last) person she ever saw eat an umeboshi, pit and all. I’ve lived in Japan for 15 years now btw, and have an entire family here.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
There was an episode of ANTM where the models were in Japan and had to do a fake commercial for Umeboshi. Which included eating it and pretending to like it. Some of the reactions were hilarious. One of the girls had to spit it out because she thought she was going to puke. The Japanese people found that very disrespectful.
#40
Was speaking to a taxi driver in eastern europe and was telling him about visiting Korea and he asked me north or south Korea. I confused the words for North and South when replying to him so I told him North Korea. We spoke for like 10mins before I realized my mistake, he was so confused because I kept saying it was great and he was like: Really? Do they have enough food? I heard life was difficult there. And I was like: No, it's awesome, they have tons of food, great place, you should go! 🤦.
#41
My wife and I were on a long trip around Europe. We were in a large German city and saw an Indian restaurant. Since we hadn’t had any Indian food in a while we decided to eat there. We decided we wanted some papadom to start. I meant to order 4 papadoms but instead I ordered 4 orders. The guy looked at us a little funny but brought us 16 papadoms. We had a good laugh and ate them all.
Diya Lakshmi Kishore Kumar 1 year ago
It's actually 'paapad' in the North of India; and 'pappadam' in the South... especially in Kerala
Load More Replies... #42
When me and my family were in France, a woman asked my dad something and he tried to say in French, "Sorry, I don't speak French", but he actually said, "Do you speak no French." He walked away feeling very proud of himself, and then realised that something wasn't right there. He walked up the stairs to our apartment with his head hung and told us. The woman was really nice though, at first she was confused, and then went, oh, and spoke in English.
#43
In February 2002 my husband and I were checking in to a hotel in Paris (from US). My best friend since childhood was 4 months pregnant and left a message for me. Due to a language barrier the message read " your wife has delivered a baby boy." What she meant was she had a sonogram and would be having a boy in several months. We were getting some serious looks from staff.
#44
When I first arrived in Japan I needed to go from Narita airport to Yokohama's "Kanazawa" District. So I asked the train staff for directions to "Kanazawa". He gave me the list of stations and transfers. About three hours into the journey, I suddenly realized it was getting late and got confused because Yokohama should be less than two hours away. And instead of going along the coast, the train was in the mountains. Finding a conductor, I double-checked the directions and found I was heading not to "Kanazawa District", but "Kanazawa City". "Kanazawa City" is in an entirely different prefecture about six hours away.
#45
Got my Spanish and French mixed up in the alps and ordered a ‘cafe negro’ instead of a ‘cafe noir’.
Nadine Debard 1 year ago
Really depends on where you go in France. In the east or north, Spanish isn't the third language.
Load More Replies... OneWithRatsAndKefir 1 year ago
Chances are they would have understood anyway, since Spain and France share a border. I think they’d automatically assume they meant the colour but got the language mixed up.
Load More Replies... #46
On our first day in Rome, my brain was exhausted with its use of rusty intermediate-level Italian. When my kid wanted gelato and they asked us to sit down, instead of saying "Can I take it to go?" I said "Can I touch it?" We were walking away from the shop when I said out loud to my family, "I just figured out why he looked at me like that.".
#47
Me and a bartender at my resort were playing around and flirting but his nametag was rubbed off and I couldn't see his name. After a week of translating my basic grasp of Spanish in my head everything was blurring together and I said "te amo" instead of "como te llamas". But because I was trying to ask his name the "I love you" came out sounding very serious, not jokey like the previous flirting.
#48
I was traveling. Stopped at a small diner in Virginia and asked for coffee. The waitress put her hands on her hips and said "codfish, we don't sell codfish here.".
Upstaged75 1 year ago
The person probably had a non-American accent that was difficult for the server to understand.
Load More Replies... Kelly Scott 1 year ago
OMG - Virginia! I went back there to visit my mom and was looking for a road called Parham. I asked some old guys at a small store I stopped at for directions and they told me how to get to Palm. I said, "Not Palm, Parham." And he said, "That's what I told you. Palm." I realized later he was saying "Pah-am" with no "r"s instead of PAHR-am". I felt so silly that day.
Robert Trebor 1 year ago
If you want to pay for something in New York City, you get "on line" (i.e. line up).
Jeremy James 1 year ago
Also in Virginia, "pin," "pan," and "pen" are all pronounced about the same and you have to guess from the context.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
Not in my part of Virginia! I just said all 3 and they are each different. Maybe in the southern part. The 2 parts of Virginia are like separate states anyway. They should have just split it up like they did the Carolinas.
Load More Replies... #49
I was on a boat from Chonqing down the Yangste river. A Chinese uncle sat down next to me and talked nonstop for an hour. His accent was so unusual I couldn’t even place it. I didn’t understand a word he said. When he finished and walked away, my friend came over and asked what we talked about for so long. I had to admit I had no idea. .
#50
Went to a cash only sushi bar in Kyoto. Realized after I sat down that I had enough cash, though it would be tight and I had to monitor so I didn’t over spend. It was closing soon and didn’t have time to run to an ATM. To make matters worse, the menu did not have prices and the chef’s English wasn’t very good. After ordering nigiri I’d have to ask him “how much” so I could keep track of how much I was spending. This became really confusing after I ordered some hamachi. “How much?” “Hamachi.” “No, how much?” “Yes, hamachi.” Went back n forth like that for a little bit hahaha.
#51
I was touring Italy with my husband and a bunch of his family, including his young cousin who was and still is an extremely picky eater. She was living on buttered noodles for the 2 weeks we were there. One night she was seated with my husband, my brother-in-law, and me at dinner (presumable because we were the youngest adults and therefore "cool"). The waiter was disappointed that she only wanted buttered noodles and started listing all of the things they could make for her off-menu. Knowing that she would eat broccoli, I asked the waiter if they could make some. He was really excited and ran back to the kitchen. When the food came out he proudly presented a plate of cauliflower swimming in butter. He was so proud that even though she wouldn't touch the cauliflower the rest of us snuck pieces off the plate and ate it for her. We later learned from the concierge at our hotel that cauliflower is roughly translated to white broccoli in Italian.
#52
I was visiting my daughter in Quito, Ecuador with family. We were staying at an AirBnb a couple blocks from her apartment. That particular part of Quito was relatively safe, but could get a bit sketchy after dark. We left her apartment late one evening and she reminded us to stay aware while we were walking home. About half way to our place, a man coming the other direction crossed the street behind us and started following us a bit aggressively. We made the decision to just bolt for the door to our building and did so, succeeding in getting behind the locked door rather quickly. The next morning we came out of the building to find the man in a conversation with my daughter. It turns out he was the caretaker of our building. The night before he saw us walking, recognized us and decided to keep an eye on us to make sure we got home safely.
#53
One summer afternoon as a maybe-old-enough-to-drink teenager in Paris I went in to Harry's bar cuz I'd read about it as this cool American bar. It was completely empty but before I could explore, the bartender looks at me and says, "no shots." And I'm like, okay, a bit early for shots, but whatever. But before I could go in any further, he more forcefully said, "no shots!" gesturing at my legs where clad not pants, but shorts. Cue my "oooohh, haha, yes sir... I'll see myself out. TLDR: French accent "shorts" sounded like "shots" to my American brain, and that was the funniest time I'd been kicked out of a bar without having a single drink.
arthbach 1 year ago
I'd have though the 'r' in 'short' would have been enough to distinguish it from the 'r'-less word, 'shot', especially when the French 't' at the end of 'short' is almost impossible to hear.
Val Wild 1 year ago
Just say it in English with a thick French accent. I can totally understand as the r is in the back of your throat.
Load More Replies... Newest Trivia & Quizzes for You Discover trivia, brain teasers, and quirky quizzes — fresh every week!
•
Progress:
Not Quite Done Yet!
Continue the Quiz
Your result:
SCORE
REWARD
Discover Your Competitive Edge
Subscribe Premium to Compare Your Stats with Others
More Premium features:
Unlimited content
Ad-free browsing
Dark mode
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How did you score compared to others?
You scored better than % of people
Trivia Takers
Score
Your general stats:
TOTAL POINTS
TRIVIAS SOLVED
PERFECT SCORES
QUIZZES COMPLETED
| User | Result | Reward |
|---|---|---|
 | / 20 | |
| | / 20 | |
Trivia Top Performers
You
What do you think ?
PFD 1 year ago
In Czech, a car indicator is "blinkr", but to indicate is "blikat". I assumed it would be (logically) "blinkat", but that means something different. Anyway, long story short, I asked the driving instructor if I should always vomit before entering a roundabout.
PFD 1 year ago
Another favourite wasn't a learner error but a toddler one. The young daughter of a friend told us she was cooking with her mum, but instead of "Testo s moukou" (pastry with flour) she said she'd meen making "Testoviny s mouchou" (pasta with flies). Yummy!
Load More Replies...
ElfVibratorGlitter 1 year ago (edited)
Second one: I called a cellphone a "handy" until I was 35. I'd heard my cousin call it that when I was visiting Switzerland at a formative age, thought it adorable and called it that from that day forward. Until at 35, someone I was talking to said, "Excuse me, did you just say 'handy'?" I reply "yeah?" He says, "like a handjob?" ...... At that moment I was like how have I gotten to 35 years old and literally no one else has questioned/called me out of this. And then how confused people must have been. And then probably nobody was actually listening to what I was saying. And how had I not figured that out myself.🤣🤣🤣
Ivona 1 year ago
My mother's German colleagues called their cell phones "handy".
Load More Replies...
ElfVibratorGlitter 1 year ago
Third one (and actually not that good): I have a hoodie that says "Ich bin ein Frankfurter" and has a silhouette of a sausage/hot dog. Parody on "Ich bin ein Berliner" and I was born in Frankfurt.
Aiw Aiwou 1 year ago
Well, Frankfurter is a kind of sausage, so it's intentional joke.
Load More Replies...
A.M. Pierre 1 year ago
Friend of mine was learning French, and he was so proud to try it out at a French restaurant. He said "I am hungry," but in French it's "I *have* hunger." Between that and a bit of mispronunciation, it came out "Je suis femme". AKA "I am a woman."
Corvus 1 year ago
I remember the case of an American professor teaching in Bulgaria. He went out with some local friends and tried to order his own food and drink. Food was okay, but when he got to the drink, he ordered "a large jerk off" (due to an unfortunate phonetic similarity between two words). They say the waiter remained silent for at least 20 seconds before saying "I'm sorry, what?!?"
Jennik 1 year ago
Many years ago I had a school holiday job in the fashion (I use the term loosely) department of a large department store. One evening a man came in and asked for the Durex. I directed him to the pharmacy down the road but he insisted he could buy it in this store. ""For the boom-boom-boom," he elaborated, pumping his hand up and down. I was still mystified. "To write Jesus Loves on shirts with the boom-boom-boom" he added helpfully. Lurex. He was after lurex thread suitable for a sewing machine.
cerinamroth 1 year ago
"I need your address" vs "I need bicarbonate of soda" (Japanese); "tornado" vs "spinal column" (German); "enema" vs "vegetable gratin" (also German, but admittedly a friend). So much fun to be hand with learning languages! But you have to be prepared to make a tit of yourself occasionally - which I firmly believe is good for the soul.
Verena 1 year ago (edited)
Spinal column = Rückengrat. Where does the tornado (= Tornado in German) come from? Enema = Einlauf. A gratin of all sorts, not limited to vegs, is an Auflauf. And that is a gratin or casserole, but also mens a crowd (of people).
Load More Replies... ElfVibratorGlitter 1 year ago (edited)
First one: When I was taking Russian I was trying to say Я матb (ya mat) which means "I am a mother". Instead, I kept saying Я мат (ya mat) which means "I am a mother f****r/ profanity". 🤷🏿
Grey Beard 1 year ago
Not even a foreign language, going through airport security in the US, massively jetlagged and not firing on many cylinders. "please put your 4 fingers on the scanner". I put 4 fingers of my right hand on the scanner. "No, your 4 fingers". I try my left hand. "4 fingers, Sir". I go to put two fingers from each hand on the scanner and get an exasperated sound. Holds up one finger on his hand for me "Sir, this is a forefinger, you have two, please put them on the scanner".
cerinamroth 1 year ago
He really should have used index finger! But I bet he does that for a laugh, like the "fork handles/four candles" comedy sketch.
Load More Replies... PFD 1 year ago
In Czech, a car indicator is "blinkr", but to indicate is "blikat". I assumed it would be (logically) "blinkat", but that means something different. Anyway, long story short, I asked the driving instructor if I should always vomit before entering a roundabout.
PFD 1 year ago
Another favourite wasn't a learner error but a toddler one. The young daughter of a friend told us she was cooking with her mum, but instead of "Testo s moukou" (pastry with flour) she said she'd meen making "Testoviny s mouchou" (pasta with flies). Yummy!
Load More Replies... ElfVibratorGlitter 1 year ago (edited)
Second one: I called a cellphone a "handy" until I was 35. I'd heard my cousin call it that when I was visiting Switzerland at a formative age, thought it adorable and called it that from that day forward. Until at 35, someone I was talking to said, "Excuse me, did you just say 'handy'?" I reply "yeah?" He says, "like a handjob?" ...... At that moment I was like how have I gotten to 35 years old and literally no one else has questioned/called me out of this. And then how confused people must have been. And then probably nobody was actually listening to what I was saying. And how had I not figured that out myself.🤣🤣🤣
Ivona 1 year ago
My mother's German colleagues called their cell phones "handy".
Load More Replies... ElfVibratorGlitter 1 year ago
Third one (and actually not that good): I have a hoodie that says "Ich bin ein Frankfurter" and has a silhouette of a sausage/hot dog. Parody on "Ich bin ein Berliner" and I was born in Frankfurt.
Aiw Aiwou 1 year ago
Well, Frankfurter is a kind of sausage, so it's intentional joke.
Load More Replies... A.M. Pierre 1 year ago
Friend of mine was learning French, and he was so proud to try it out at a French restaurant. He said "I am hungry," but in French it's "I *have* hunger." Between that and a bit of mispronunciation, it came out "Je suis femme". AKA "I am a woman."
Corvus 1 year ago
I remember the case of an American professor teaching in Bulgaria. He went out with some local friends and tried to order his own food and drink. Food was okay, but when he got to the drink, he ordered "a large jerk off" (due to an unfortunate phonetic similarity between two words). They say the waiter remained silent for at least 20 seconds before saying "I'm sorry, what?!?"
Jennik 1 year ago
Many years ago I had a school holiday job in the fashion (I use the term loosely) department of a large department store. One evening a man came in and asked for the Durex. I directed him to the pharmacy down the road but he insisted he could buy it in this store. ""For the boom-boom-boom," he elaborated, pumping his hand up and down. I was still mystified. "To write Jesus Loves on shirts with the boom-boom-boom" he added helpfully. Lurex. He was after lurex thread suitable for a sewing machine.
cerinamroth 1 year ago
"I need your address" vs "I need bicarbonate of soda" (Japanese); "tornado" vs "spinal column" (German); "enema" vs "vegetable gratin" (also German, but admittedly a friend). So much fun to be hand with learning languages! But you have to be prepared to make a tit of yourself occasionally - which I firmly believe is good for the soul.
Verena 1 year ago (edited)
Spinal column = Rückengrat. Where does the tornado (= Tornado in German) come from? Enema = Einlauf. A gratin of all sorts, not limited to vegs, is an Auflauf. And that is a gratin or casserole, but also mens a crowd (of people).
Load More Replies... ElfVibratorGlitter 1 year ago (edited)
First one: When I was taking Russian I was trying to say Я матb (ya mat) which means "I am a mother". Instead, I kept saying Я мат (ya mat) which means "I am a mother f****r/ profanity". 🤷🏿
Grey Beard 1 year ago
Not even a foreign language, going through airport security in the US, massively jetlagged and not firing on many cylinders. "please put your 4 fingers on the scanner". I put 4 fingers of my right hand on the scanner. "No, your 4 fingers". I try my left hand. "4 fingers, Sir". I go to put two fingers from each hand on the scanner and get an exasperated sound. Holds up one finger on his hand for me "Sir, this is a forefinger, you have two, please put them on the scanner".
cerinamroth 1 year ago
He really should have used index finger! But I bet he does that for a laugh, like the "fork handles/four candles" comedy sketch.
Load More Replies... You May Like 58 Places From Around The World That Look AI Generated But Are Actually Real The Best Travel Shows To Fulfill Your Wanderlust Needs 51 Safest Places To Travel Right Now
Jonas Žvilius
Viltė Domkutė
Larysa Perih
Related on Bored Panda
