One of my most favourite colleagues is a charming Italian who is 97% fluent in English, uses "bloody" and "fucking hell" with conviction and, unless you ask him about "feasting", rarely trips up.
Mere hours ago, however, we nearly did ourselves an injury in the kitchen.
Charming Italian Colleague: Darling. We must get our ducks aligned.
Me: Which ducks?
Charming Italian Colleague: You taught me this expression yesterday!
Me: You mean: "we must get our ducks in a row"?
Charming Italian Colleague: Yes, darling! That is it!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Day 296: I Am Taught A New Expression
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20 comments:
Teaching english expressions to italians is like shooting monkeys in a barrel !
I like the expression used by A Friend of a Friend; 'having a great time and getting on like a whale on fire'. A particularly impressive mental image...
oh oh me me I've got one:
french relative during a toast, 'up the bottom!"
But was does the expression about ducks actually mean? I have never heard it before. Is it ad-speak or monkey speak or something?
and the comment worked this time too, so I have no idea what was going on before
MInty - you are always in my heart.
UCL - I am trying to find the words to describe how I feel now that I know you are able to comment on my blog again, and am unable! And no, the expression is fuck-all to do with advertising or monkeys, and it's in common usage. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to write the post.
Dr F - nice cats. Very strong whale adecdote too. I once stated (with some confidence) that I had 'thrown in the trowel'.
J-Boy - Not bad!
If you really want to impress your Italian friend, ask him to take you for a drive to the duckpond for some aligning, wait for another motorist to cut you up (shouldn't take long, they're all mental behind the wheel) and yell, "Va fancula y bastardo!"
This friendly greeting was taught to three-year-old Little Miss Farty by a very nice Italian girl. So it must be ok for polite company.
Mr F - you have children?
Mr F! Please have that Italian child taken into care straight away!
That ducks in a row thing - shooting galleries?
Are you two singing from the same hymn sheet yet?
oh i have one too, teaching my new french friends some expressions is quite fun. The other day one said i will 'nipple it in the body' (nip it in the bud, people)
A friend of mine, waxing lyrical about a man she had just met, aid feelingly: "Ooooh, he's lovely! He's got jet-blond hair ..."! Jet? Blond? Another friend, on hearing a tale of woe: "Ah well. I suppose you've got to count your chickens ...". Both of these strange people called English their first language, so they have less excuse!
"SAID", not "aid". Sorry!
I'm amazed that you said "which ducks" instead of "what ducks". Did your Italian colleague appreciate the elegance?
I had a Kuwaiti boss that was doing very well learning The English and his favourite expression was "they are like two butts!, in one underwear!" referring to either close personal or professional relationships.
'... and jupiter aligns with mars ...'
why does aligning sound like something only planets (and countries, provided they're not non-aligned) would do?
my son once described a colour as 'navy brown'. weird thing is, i knew exactly what he meant.
So glad we're all on the same parchment
a neighbor noted for her wit and malapropisms once said "not the sharpest stick in the eye" when referring to another person of not that keen an intelligence.
Mom saw something very sentimental and said it was "heart rendering". The family gave her a hard time about rendering fat off a heart.
*sigh* I still have no idea what the ducks in a row thing means. Not the slightest clue.
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