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English
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Jul 27, 2005
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I went to the bank today and heard two women, a teller and a customer, trying to understand each other. The teller had a German accent. The customer had an Indian (of India) accent. To make things even funnier, this was happening not at the "International Bank" but at the "Bank of America". I feel bad for people who have to learn English. I'm glad I already know it. When you try to explain American jokes to a foreigner, they don't understand. I worked with an Army guy who used to joke around by saying, "Oh you're an engineer? Choo choo!" But when I tried to explain it to a Filipino woman, it got lost in translation. This same Filipino woman calls me on the phone and says, "Hey Dave, how are you?" Me: "I'm good, how 'bout you?" Her: "Not much." And it's not like it's a one-time thing. It's every time. I used to work with a guy from Guyana. I used to say, "Hey Larry, what's up?" Larry: "Alright." Every time. Poor foreign people. #language
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Billion (1)
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Jul 27, 2005
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I think it's interesting that whenever people say the word "billion", they really "billion". Just listen to the news or any financial thing on TV or radio. It says, "The company late yesterday reported sales climbed to $1.75 billion..." Say it out loud. It just comes out as billion. You don't say things like, "I paid 18 thousand for my car," or "My electric bill last month was one hundred twenty bucks". It's more like, "Eh I paid about 18 K," and "A hundred twenty smackers". But unless you're Byronn Memmelaar (I wonder if he reads my blog), you don't throw around terms like "A couple bil" or "Eh just a few million". #psychology
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