An example of what I mean:

I, in China, told an English speaking Chinese friend I needed to stop off in the bathroom to “take a shit.”

He looked appalled and after I asked why he had that look, he asked what I was going to do with someone’s shit.

I had not laughed so hard in a while, and it totally makes sense.

I explained it was an expression for pooping, and he comes back with, “wouldn’t that be giving a shit?”

I then got to explain that to give a shit means you care and I realized how fucked some of our expressions are.

What misunderstandings made you laugh?

  • Dasus@lemmy.world
    0·
    21 days ago

    Sounds like you don’t know shit. (Standup comedy >4min)

    Also your comment made me think of Jimmy Yang, who apparently knew English when he moved to the US, but not that well, not knowing any expressions. When someone asked him “what’s up”, he just looked at the ceiling.

    As a kid we giggled at “Disney Home Video” because “Disney” is a proper noun, so doesn’t translate, and “video” is “video” in Finnish as well, but “home” means “mould”, (as in the fungus.)