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One would be in less danger
From the wiles of a stranger
If one's own kin and kith
Were more fun to be with.

Ogden Nash
Babel Fish
Saturday. 2.4.06 1:44 pm
I took my dog out for a walk. We went down to the lake and chased a few birds, with me barely hanging on to the end of the leash as she dragged me skidding through the mud. A very dirty walk, but a nice walk all the same.

On the way home, we met a Security Guard out on his rounds. He was an Indian, uncle-ish looking sort of guy. Very friendly too, as he stopped when he saw us and flashed me a smile (but not Pukeyface because really, who would smile at a mud-splattered Fat Lump?).

"Hullo!" I called out, waving a muddy hand.

"Hullo!" he called back, waving a stick.

The exchange over, we stood there in awkward silence for a bit, racking our brains for the next thing to say. He turned out to be the better conversationalist.

"Gong Hei Fatt Choy!"

Well, that was sweet of him, wishing me a Happy Chinese New Year in my mother tongue. So I thanked him in the same. And that must have triggered something, because suddenly, he rattled off a longer stream of Cantonese.

I was lost - I couldn't understand a word of it. And sad to say, it was because his Cantonese was so much more advanced than mine. So I did the only stupid logical thing to do.

I nodded encouragingly.

And so it went on for a good ten minutes. He said something totally incomprehensible, I did my best to look like I understood and made sounds of agreement. Back and forth, back and forth. He was starting to make me feel small and this annoyed me.

"Feh!" I mentally snarled. "You're not the only multilingual one here!"

Then I suddenly noticed a lull in the (one-sided) conversation. I dragged my attention back to the Security Guard who was looking at me patiently. He was obviously awaiting some sort of reply.

Hah! This was my chance to impress him with my knowledge of Hindi! I quickly ran through my repertoire of Hindi phrases.

"Aloo Gobi!" I blurted out. And fled.

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17 Comments.


Priceless!!! :D Who knew that zebras were multilingual. I sure learnt something new today hehe.
» Shan (60.48.98.108) on 2006-02-04 03:46:44

Shan: Well, I had no choice, I suppose. Bad enough I'm so distinctively stripey in a sea of pink skin. All I want is to belong.
» theZEBRA on 2006-02-04 12:36:06

Shan: Btw, congrats on the new pearl white baby!
» theZEBRA on 2006-02-04 12:37:37

I love Aloo Gobi!! Paul
» Paul (218.111.39.204) on 2006-02-05 02:55:00

Aloo Gobi?! Well, why stop there - you could've recited at least half of your Indian takeaway's menu, surely? I can recite the numbers 1-10 in Tamil. -beams-
» Jay (82.69.108.126) on 2006-02-05 03:15:02

Hehe thanx. She is *so* the beauty! Am going to copy this post onto my blog - it is too funny :D
» Shan (60.48.96.121) on 2006-02-05 09:23:51

I hope it's tasty. Sounded funny, though.
» Beer Brat (202.156.6.85) on 2006-02-06 04:38:44

Oh dear.... It's like trying to talk to ghetto people who assume I understand them because our skin color is the same...
» ikimashokie on 2006-02-06 08:15:04

My Cantonese isn't that powderful either, but I think I would have understood 10% of what he said. Or maybe not. LOL
» derek (203.106.28.194) on 2006-02-07 01:34:54

Paul: I love the name. I think I shall call my first Daniel Craig lovechild Aloo Gobi.

Jay: I can say Papadum...and I bet you can't say "I'm a blue elephant" in French, German, Italian, AND Russian. Haha!

Shan: Wahh, I'm so honoured!!! *Wipes a tear away*

Beer Brat: It's Potato and Cauliflower. Or Cauliflower and Potato. How tasty can cow food be?

ikimashokie: Word.

derek: I understood the Gong Hei Fatt Choy...surely that counts for something?
» theZEBRA on 2006-02-07 11:26:00

Aloo Gobi
mmm potato and cauliflower curry... Hindi and Tamil are two completely different languages. :P
» Tiara (202.188.150.127) on 2006-02-10 04:04:26

You've been bookmarked.
» FireAngel (60.48.25.83) on 2006-02-10 04:54:09

Tiara: Aloo Gobi's in Hindi, right? You have to excuse Jay. He's OLD, so he gets confused easily. Muahahaha! Btw, I wanted to comment on your site, but my connection wouldn't let me...I just wanted to say DAMN, that's one cool-sounding job. I wanna work for channel [v] too. :_(

FireAngel: Thanks! :D
» theZEBRA on 2006-02-10 09:41:50

* wait till stop laughing * [RSS Entries] .. *click* [Add to FeedReader] ... *click* Thanks. You made my day. :)
» shawnchin (129.215.16.39) on 2006-02-10 04:32:01

shawnchin: Glad to hear. Now send me a frozen baked mushroom pack!
» theZEBRA on 2006-02-11 01:57:03

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» Tanner (79.174.195.80) on 2010-09-03 03:58:43

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