March 09, 2005
Do you eat dog?
To prepare for the trip, Erica asked my dad to teach us some Chinese language phrases. Erica thought it would be a nice gesture to speak to our relatives in their native tongue. Dad taught us some basic phrases like hello, its good to see you and this is delicious. An important phrase that we learned was I am full which translates to I have had enough. This was an important phrase to know because at most meals the host would continue to offer you food until you said that you were full.
Our family was thrilled to hear Erica talk in Chinese. My mom and I do not speak Chinese although it is expected that would know how to. So in the spirit of adventure, we also tried out the Chinese phrases. At the end of a particularly large meal, mom decided to try out “ I have had enough”. “Moa sayk gao,” she said and smiled at dad and my uncle. Uncle and dad got this horrified look on their face. Erica intervened and repeated “ I have had enough”. Dad got a big grin on his face and told mom, you just said “I had dog!” The phrase “I have had enough” and “I have had dog” are so close that the only difference is how you pronounce the last word which is the same.
That is part of the reason that Chinese language is so difficult is that just the inflection of a word can change its meaning completely. We were much less enthusiastic about trying out those Chinese phrases after that incident. That and we let dad do all the ordering for meals. You never know what you might get.
Posted by at 9:24 pm
Ha ha ha!
timsamoff () (URL) - March 10, 2005 at 12:38 pm
