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Knowing languages is always a big advantage. It can be beneficial to your career, traveling, making friends abroad or moving to another country. However, it’s important to note that you can never know what languages a stranger speaks.

For example, if you are abroad, you may feel that nobody can understand you here and you can speak about everyone around you however you want and nobody is going to have any idea what you are talking about. But I am sorry to break it to you – you never know what languages others speak and it’s better to be careful than be shamed later.

More info: Reddit

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    If you ‘reject’ a person who was not even hitting on you, it may be slightly embarrassing

    Image credits: natasha t (not the actual photo) 

    Person shares his revenge story after woman thought he was hitting on her but he just wanted to take an empty chair from her

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    Image credits: u/FloridaMan69ingurmom

    He asked the woman for an empty chair next to her, but she just smirked and said she doesn’t speak English

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    Image credits: u/FloridaMan69ingurmom

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    Image credits: Jason Leung (not the actual photo) 

    Well, then she heard the man speaking Spanish and asked for a napkin dispenser which was near him

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    Image credits: u/FloridaMan69ingurmom

    And as revenge, he answered her the same as she did that he doesn’t speak English and her face just turned red

    Very recently, one Reddit user shared his petty revenge story to one of its communities. He remembered an incident in Ecuador when a woman assumed he was hitting on her but later on just embarrassed herself. The post received a lot of attention as in just 2 days, it collected more than 18.6K upvotes and 1.2K comments.

    The author starts his story by sharing that it happened years back in Ecuador in an Irish pub. He was there with some other people and needed one more chair. Then he saw a bar stool near the barstool where 2 women were talking. So in Spanish, OP asked her if it was okay if he grabbed the empty chair, and she just says that she didn’t speak English. 

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    OP overheard them chuckling as they were thinking that he was hitting on her and she had rejected him just like that. Then came time for petty revenge. The same woman overheard OP speaking Spanish and asked for a napkin dispenser which was directly in front of him. And, well, the OP just said loud and clear that he didn’t speak English. As you may guess – the woman’s face turned red and OP just gave her cold shoulder.

    Community members applauded the author for this revenge and shared their own similar situations. For example, how often it happens that women think guys are hitting them up, not just asking simple questions, or misunderstandings that they have encountered abroad. “I love stories like these because it’s a justifiable serving of humble pie,” one user wrote. 

    Image credits: Wendy Wei (not the actual photo) 

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    Moreover, Bored Panda got in touch with Diane, the creator of Oui In France. She kindly agreed to share her personal experiences as a person from the USA and now living in France. She opened up on how significant language is in misunderstandings, assumptions about her own culture and cultural differences that brought her joy!

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    To begin with, Diane says that over the years she has had a bunch of language-related misunderstandings. She says that she had been taking group French classes, but they don’t really prepare you to face French people. Moreover, she shared one of the most memorable ones that happened with her doctor. 

    “Basically, in French the word noir can mean a few things including the color black and the dark. And also Black people,” she says. “I mixed up du and des before noir and the doctor thought I was saying Americans are afraid of Black people and not that some of us are afraid of the dark. Once I realized my mistake, I corrected it and thank goodness for that.”

    Speaking about stereotypes, Diane shares that when she first came to France to teach English, one teacher, upon hearing about her Thanksgiving celebration, made a comment that it’s just an excuse for Americans to eat and get fat. Moreover, she highlights that American celebrity culture also gives the impression that everybody there lives glamorous lives.

    However, she says that overall, French people have been great and she even finds herself defending the French when Americans have been judgmental or rude about them!

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    And finally, speaking about moments that she found joy in experiencing something unique to the new culture, she shares that food is a huge part of French culture. So shopping for it, preparing and enjoying it – most of these moments that come to mind revolve around food. “You can eat fresh oysters right out of the bay in Cancale (Brittany), drink wine directly from the producer, and so much more. I love meeting the people who grow and harvest the food we eat,” she says.

    Image credits: ELEVATE (not the actual photo) 

    In addition to this, Bored Panda got in touch with the author of this story and he wanted to clarify that it was odd to find out the amount of Redditors that were angry and accusing him of making up this story.

    “If I was to make up a story like the one I posted I’d be disappointed in my lack of imagination. Why would someone make up such a mundane and uneventful story?” he emphasized.

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    Moreover, he was accused of ‘grinding for internet points’ and he states that it’s very silly to see the amount of people that get furious over literally nothing.

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    So, guys, what do you think about this revenge story? Have you ever been in such a situation where there were misunderstandings due to language barriers? Or due to somebody’s thought that you were hitting on them? Share in the comments below!

    Redditors shared their own similar real-life experiences

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