HUGE CONGRATS TO MAY’S WINNER @ANJULI GLOBAL for her hilarious #LostinTranslation moment
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
Simply tell us what your funniest or most bizarre “Lost in Translation” moment has been while travelling the world.
Up here in China, as you know, I have them all the time!! Actually, I was saving this one for the book…but I’ll share it with you quickly…It actually happened during a recent interview for the book with a hotel staff member. She told me, how, in the middle of the busy breakfast rush hour, an elderly gentleman had decided to take a “squat” in the pot plant, beside his table! Naturally, I was horrified. Even more so when she said, they did nothing….”because he would probably do it again.” “He didn’t even use a tissue,” she cried! Well you can imagine the look on my face, a lot of head shaking…..only to find out the next day, when I questioned this ‘incident’ again, he had actually ‘spit’ in the pot plant. Still not desirable, but you can imagine a lot more acceptable. And breathe…. 😛
So! Give me what you’ve got!!!!
In ten days time, we’ll choose the best “Lost in Translation” moment…. (make me giggle) and you’ll win yourself one of these superb passport holders for your next travelling experience.
Super smart and stylish, I’m thrilled Up & Away has agreed to give one of these chic travel accessories to Mint Mocha Musings readers. These are multiple passport holders that help you keep everything together, so that you can skip across those time zones better, no matter what the size of your travel party.
They come in seven amazing colours from basic black to groovy green, it was actually hard to choose! I ended up going for the purple one (‘zi si’ in Mandarin) which fits me, the hotelier and our small person’s passports perfectly.
Check out Up & Away’s website here for the full spectrum.
What are you waiting for!! Fill out your LOST IN TRANSLATION moment in the comments below, for your chance to WIN!
Oh and to boost your chances, we’d looove you to like our Facebook and Instagram pages….while you’re at it. 😉
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A fun snafu early in my Spanish language studies had me visiting a friend and her family in Costa Rica where we were invited to ride horses on her uncle’s ranch all day. On return to tell her mom how the day went I went into half pantomime bouncing up and down as if on a horse and told her I was riding “caballeros” all day!! She asked to me to repeat myself while trying to choke back laughter.. so I did with emphatic physical motions et al at which point she offered pulled out a few glasses for rum cocktails and laughed until she cried… “caballos” are horses.. “caballeros” are cowboys.. I had actioned out riding the later all day long… 😉
Ha Ha Ha…that’s hilarious!!! That could’ve had you in quite a bit of trouble I imagine!! LOL! Such a small difference in pronunciation but such a big difference in meaning. Story of my life. Chuckle chuckle!! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed those rum cocktails! Thanks for sharing! Nicole
Our family was boarding the ride “Its a small world” at DW and a little Asian boy and his mom were still queing in line. He was telling his mom he had to use the bathroom. I guess he couldn’t wait and stepped out of line and peed right there on the cement. My small children got such a charge watching his mother trying to get him to stop, to no avail. And they lost their place in line.
Oh dear! Ha Ha….why am I not totally surprised! 😉 Bet your kids couldn’t believe their eyes!! His poor mum! Ugh kids! Here in China, it’s quite normal…footpaths, shopping centres, you name it. And usually there is a toilet not all that far away. 🙁
Thanks for sharing Margaret! Cheers, Nicole
Good Golly Miss Molly, in a Jamaica resort. I saw a maid in the hall way & asked for extra towels. She said ja man. You don’t know if that is a yes, I will comply or just saying hello, or normal greeting. Funny thing is she never came back with any towels & I never saw her again in the trip. . Thank you for the awesomeness, the contest, and generosity. 🙂
Ha! And having never been to Jamaica I can totally picture that!! I often that here in China and am left wondering if they’ll ever come back or was that just a courtesy nod and an “I have no idea what you’re talking about!!” 😉 Thanks for sharing and taking part Edmond! Cheers, Nicole
This was years ago, when I first came to China and had a vocabulary of less than 100 words.
I was out shopping with my teaching partner and I needed to use a restroom, but didn’t have any toilet paper with me. I knew that most places didn’t have it on hand, but I felt here was no harm in asking.
So right near the restroom， at a store， was a help desk and I tried my best to politely ask for toilet paper, wei sheng zhi, but I was really asking her for the bathroom, wei sheng jian. I kept asking for what I thought was the paper, and she’d just point to the sign that was clearly marked in Chinese and English: toilet.
I’d look at her and say “no” (mei you) and she’d point again. Finally she took me in there, opened a stall and showed me what I already knew was there。Just a squat toilet and no paper. Embarrassed by my lack of ability to communicate, I went in and locked the door…stood there for awhile…flushed…and thanked her on my way out.
Only a few weeks later, when I was going through a textbook did I realize my mistake.
Ha Ha! I can totally understand and I’m pretty sure with my current limited Chinese I am guilty of doing the same sort of thing…. It’s so frustrating when they look at you with such amused disdain and you at them with despair! I bet by now though you are completely fluent and that feels good. Oh how I wish for that day. Too funny. The things we do….Thanks for sharing!! Nicole. PS love your blog.
China here, too. 🙂 I got in a taxi and asked for what is literally “The Rising Apartment”. Instead I asked for “The Rising Chicken”. The taxi driver thought I had made a great joke, and laughed and laughed. I guess at least he enjoyed it! lol
Ha Ha! Jennifer, it must be China! I found out there’s a very fine line between addressing the driver as “driver” politely and calling him a “dead chicken!”…. As you say at least he got a laugh!! 😉 Thanks for taking part and commenting! Cheers, Nicole
This is funny, but VERY embarassing at the time.
I had only been in Brasil a couple of weeks and was trying really hard to learn and speak Portugues. My new friends introduced me to a guy named Omar, who seemed older than the other people in our group,
So, I asked him how old he was: Quantos anos? He looked at me strangely, raised a finger and said Um. (One.)
I was confused for a few seconds, and then realized that I had mispronounced anOs…….
Ha Ha! Oh dear!!! I’m chuckling out loud…. that would be a little embarrassing. Funny looking back though isn’t it. The things we do (and say)!!! It is sooo hard learning a new language. I don’t think I’ll ever completely get Mandarin, but all we can is try. Good on you. Thanks so much for sharing your lost in translation moment. Brilliant. One to remember. 😉 Cheers, Nicole
Hi Nicole.
Mine is from China too! I travelled there for 2 months in 2014 (I absolutely love it and Xi’an was my favorite place). One of my stays was in Yangshuo which has a VERY VERY humid, tropical climate. I arrived at my hotel at 1am in the morning, exhausted, with a small tour group after a 4 hour plane ride and then 4 hours in a van. We checked in and immediately went up to our rooms. Unfortunately due to the humidity, my bed had extremely damp sheets – it felt like they were wet – and an air conditioner made a massive racket! Well, I couldn’t sleep so decided to go down and ask the man at the front desk if he could fix it or give me another room – keeping in mind I speak only a small bit of Mandarin and at this time hadn’t downloaded the Pleco app for translation – I only had a small phrase book. So I went down at about 2am with my phrase book and said ‘wo1 shi3 shi4’ (I am wet) – the old man just stared at me, so I tried again – ‘ni1 chuang2 shi4’ (the bed wet). It was so hard to try and get the tones right in my tired and frustrated state and the man just kept looking at me like I was speaking alien (which I probably was haha) and then to both of our horror I burst into tears and just kept repeating those phrases. He leant behind the counter and gave me… an umbrella!
I looked at him, looked at it, took it, thanked him, and went back to sleep in my damp sheets.
Looking back on it, it was quite hilarious, but at the time it was so frustrating trying to get my words out!
Ha Ha Ha…..Oh my. That is funny! I feel your pain! I really really do!!! Those dam tones will be the death of me!! I can’t believe he gave you an umbrella, well no, actually of course I can! Ha ha. Thank God for Pleco. It is my lifesaver. Isn’t it frustrating when you get that “are you an alien” look. Ha! Well, I bet you had an amazing two months travelling through China. Glad you liked Xi’an. It is one of the more beautiful “old style” Chinese cities that’s for sure. And Yangshuo is amazing. We went there a couple of months ago and I absolutely loved it. Thanks so much for taking part in this giveaway and sharing your story. Love it. Cheers, Nicole.
My best “lost in translation” moment was on a food tour of Hanoi, Vietnam. As we began, I needed to tell the tourguide that I had celiac disease, and thus couldn’t eat gluten. Since I knew both of these words weren’t going to be easily understood by the guide, I told her I was allergic to flour (thought that would probably cover most of the foods, anyway). She replied “how silly – we don’t eat flowers here!!”
Ha Ha that’s very funny Erica! I’m laughing out loud!! Can just see the tour guide’s face! “Who are these crazy tourists!?” I would love to tell them I need to eat gluten free food here in Xi’an but I can already see the looks on their faces! Cheers for sharing. Nicole 🙂