Nice Hot Bowl of Soap

[Robert S.]

She keeps getting her vowels mixed up!!!! She told me she was cooking, and I could hear her cutting as usual with that rhythmic whomp, whomp, chop, whomp, and I asked her what she was cutting and it was onions and I said "onion go to wok?" And she said "no, onion go to big pan for soap." My imaginative picture of wonderful wintertime food crashed into an image of a horrible mess of soap bubbling and frothing out of a pan. I said "Crazy, you mean soup, sssooooooooooooouuuuppp, soup, soup, okay?" She said "ai ya, soup, my mouth no good, soup, oh this English......"

 

But if she wants the other, she will find the bar missing in the shower and call me "Lao gong, give me soup!!!" I'm thinking "chicken noodle? in the shower? oh, she wants soap." And I decided next time that happens I'm going to get a can of Campbells and hand it to her and see what kind of look I get.

[Dennis143]

Too funny. And, all this time I keep thinking I am all alone with this.

 

My wife's new habits are to look at me and say "I don know" to a word that we have said and used over and over and over again and then suddenly act as if she's never heard it until now nor used it before. Where's the pulling your hair out emoticon?

[Robert S.]

Too funny. And, all this time I keep thinking I am all alone with this.

 

My wife's new habits are to look at me and say "I don know" to a word that we have said and used over and over and over again and then suddenly act as if she's never heard it until now nor used it before. Where's the pulling your hair out emoticon?

That emoticon is exactly what we need!!!

[pkfops]

How about a bowl of "nodos" (noodles).

 

Can't complain though; if I say something in Cantonese

she just laughs in my face and says it is wrong.

Edited December 10, 2006 by pkfops (see edit history)

[Dennis143]

We're sitting in church this morning. I am getting over a cold and have the sniffles and ask if she has a tissue. She says no and that she will go to the resturaunt to get me one.

[Feathers268]

We're sitting in church this morning. I am getting over a cold and have the sniffles and ask if she has a tissue. She says no and that she will go to the resturaunt to get me one.

Yesterday Jen and I ate pizza with my cousin's family at the rest room.

[NewDay2006]

My wife speaks very good English most of the time... one day she had me really concerned....

I asked what was she eating for breakfast... her reply was "sour milk"

 

She kept telling me she liked it and I should try it. I assured her I would not try sour milk.

Finally, I guess she looked up the word on the container and said it was yogurt. I felt much better then. I guess she was right in a sense, yogurt is really sour milk.

[SirLancelot]

My wife speaks very good English most of the time... one day she had me really concerned....

I asked what was she eating for breakfast... her reply was "sour milk"

 

She kept telling me she liked it and I should try it. I assured her I would not try sour milk.

Finally, I guess she looked up the word on the container and said it was yogurt. I felt much better then. I guess she was right in a sense, yogurt is really sour milk.

 

Hahah.. NewDay, the literal translation of yogurt in Chinese is "sour milk" (suan nai ËáÄÌ). Unless a Chinese person who speaks English knows specifically of the word "yogurt", they will most likely say "sour milk" as that is exactly what the Chinese call "yogurt": sour milk (suan nai ËáÄÌ)

 

suan = sour

nai = milk

http://www.mandarintools.com/cgi-bin/wordl...le&audio=on

Edited December 12, 2006 by SirLancelot (see edit history)

[toy_rn65]

My wife speaks very good English most of the time... one day she had me really concerned....

I asked what was she eating for breakfast... her reply was "sour milk"

 

She kept telling me she liked it and I should try it. I assured her I would not try sour milk.

Finally, I guess she looked up the word on the container and said it was yogurt. I felt much better then. I guess she was right in a sense, yogurt is really sour milk.

 

 

When I first attended high school here in the US after immigrating here many moons ago, I once asked my classmate if I can borrow his "rubber"(eraser)?

 

The whole class was rolling on the floor!

Edited December 12, 2006 by toy_rn65 (see edit history)

[SmilingAsia]

English no good. The one who invented so confusing words, like soup/soap, noodles/needles,restroom/restaurant, chopsticks/chocolates, fifteen/fifty.....needs mopslapping!

Edited December 13, 2006 by SmilingAsia (see edit history)

[Dennis143]

English no good. The one who invented so confusing words, like soup/soap, noodles/needles,restroom/restaurant, chopsticks/chocolates, fifteen/fifty.....needs mopslapping!

Hey Eunice, I have a little test that I give my ESL students. I will write words on the board and number them:

1. bed

2. dad

3. bad

4. dead

 

I will then speak each word one at a time and the class will try to guess which number I am saying. When I see them getting frustrated, I will switch it around and have them tell me the Chinese translation which I will then try to speak. For some reason, they always end up laughing out loud at my butchering.

 

Now, I am told that I am to sing a Chinese song aloud at the Christmas party that we're having for our Chinese friends. I started practicing Silent Night at this evenings class. Seems I have become their big amusement. Maybe, I can take my act on the road? I can even throw a few Ching Chongs in for good measure.

 

I just ask if you would find out who invented tonal Mandarin and then give them a good mop slap? Tell 'em it's from Dennis. B)

[SirLancelot]

I can even throw a few Ching Chongs in for good measure.

 

Dennis Dennis Dennis. You just love to provoke, don't you? B)

 

Perhaps an invite should be sent to Rosie D. for her to make a cameo appearance and sing along with you at the party.

[Mick]

The "soap" - " soup" mistake is one I often heard in China. When Li and I first met, she often did the same thing with these words.