Lost in Translation Part 2

Written 10/25/11

There have been some more funny lost in translation moments during these past two days in Italy. 

In the chocolate store, I was told, “these chocolates have room”.  Room for what?  I figured they were filled with air, like a chocolate mousse.  It turns out they are “with rum”, not “with room”.

One of my friends lamented about the lack of the legroom on the bus.  “I cannot sleep because I’m so high.”  I explained that saying your “high” is slang for having taken drugs.  So, now he can complain, “I cannot sleep because I’m so tall.”  Sara had a friend from Norway who kept saying “long” instead of “tall”.  We giggled about how saying you’re “long” might be even worse than saying you’re “high”!

One of my friends confused his English verbs.  So when Matt and Tim asked him what the bidet was for, he replied, “to eat”, instead of “to clean”.  Whoops.  You gotta give the guy credit, since he was switching all day between four different languages.

I ordered a mineral water.  The waiter was concerned that I didn’t realize that my water would have carbonation.  So he warned me, “your water has gas”.

There have also been a lot of little confusions.  Like when my Albanian friend Arvida, was speaking to a local in Pordenone, but accidentally confirmed, “da”, instead of “si”.  Or when someone asked me on the train to open the window, and, not understanding, I automatically replied, “ne razumiem Bosanskom” (“I don’t speak Bosnian”), instead of “non parlo Italiano” (“I don’t speak Italian”).