July 2

Sometimes the language differences can be amusing, but it often takes a native speaker to point them out. Here’s a few recent examples:

This chain of petrol stations and convenience stores is apparently named after a local family. However, in Poland, the word “pieprzyk” also means something much less savory. I won’t say it here, but it rhymes with something like “Little Trucker”.

This one is my favorite though:

As I pulled into a campground in Austria, a guy saw my Texas license plate and approached me. His accent didn’t sound Austrian, but more eastern European, so I’m not sure where he was from, but english was not his first language. He asked, “You are from Texas?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I have uncle in San Antonio.”

“Oh, that’s very close to me. I lived one hour north of San Antonio.”

“He is very old. And dead.”

I almost spit out the piece of bread I was eating, and it took everything I had not to laugh.

Add that to my now-famous “I’m from Vindu, would you like a puppy?” story.

Fortunately, I had this guy to translate for me in Poland. 🙂 Thanks again Michal!