Crossing Borders 14-1200, December 22, 2000 Published by Lynette Chandler www.angelfire.com/ok2/kenandlynette For online version of this issue, get it here
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Contents
Lynette’s Musings Get This Greek, English or Both	Advertisement About.com Free Long Distance Calls Every Month
Lynette’s Musings So here it is, holiday season. It's really something how so many celebrations are going on at one time now. We got an e-mail the other day that had a picture of a turkey holding all sorts of holiday ornaments and it said "Happy Everything, now leave me alone till next year". That was funny. Anyway, at holiday time when family and friends come together, we as foreign born spouses may feel a little overwhelmed, particularly if it is the first year. There are many conversations going on, a crowd of unfamiliar people and settings. I remember the first time I met with Ken's family. They had waited for us, and almost all were present. I was bewildered because 90% of the time I couldn't catch what they were saying behind the thick Southern drawl. On the rare occassion I could hear what they said, it would be some lingo whose meaning I didn't understand. So, I thought it would be rather interesting to post some words and lingo this issue that made my head reel over the year. On another note, I am also 'launching' another mini column within this newsletter that I will call, Get This. You will find it just under this column. Get This will consist of little bits of information, interesting stuff, announcements, issues to chew on and the likes, information that I think would be useful but does not merit a full article. Enjoy! ~Lynette Chandler~
Get This Did you know that it is illegal to tip a postal clerk? It seems that you can give gifts but not an outright tip.
Greek, English or Both At times to me it seems that Americans speak Greek, literally. The reality is it gets, very frustrating trying to converse because I can't lapse into colloquialisms and slang that Malaysians are so used to. Remember Manglish in my earlier article? So! Here you find yourself, forced to think of words and sentences in English what you normally express in a local tongue. It has nothing to do with your grasp of English. If you were asked to write a letter, you would do a perfect job but when you are asked to say it, in a few seconds or minutes your brain goes into hyper processing mode that would blow up even the new Pentium 4, trying to think of and translate words, phrases, slang at the same time! This is worse when the clerk at the store thinks that you "no speaky Englis" because of your hesitation.   And of course, living in the South, the accents make you hopelessly lost! I still remember my niece saying "That sure is purdy!" Huh?? "I thawt I thaw a purdy tat!" ran through my mind. I only found out much later and after hours of wracking my brains she said "That sure is pretty!". So! Let's explore some words and phrases that made me say "Now that's different."   HERE THEY SAY I SAY Back Up No, not hard drive back up. This was one threw me off when I was getting my driver's license. "Back up now" the examiner told me. Say again?   I think we would have wasted less time if she said reverse instead. After all, that is what the 'R' on the gear shift means right? Broke When I was told my lamp is broke, I expected to find a hole, a crack or the glass was broken. The person actually meant to tell me the lamp wasn't working. "Well, that's not broke! It's spoilt." "Yeah! It's broke!"........ silence........ ok so now I know broke also means spoilt. Cut On "Won't you cut that lamp off?", "Ok, where's the scissors?" I don't know how many times my English teacher drilled "Switch off/on the lights" into our heads so cutting on/off just sounds weird. Do Not Enter No Entry Intersection Cross Road or Junction Get a Ride Get a Lift Pass the car ahead Overtake the car ahead Trucks Lorries The Law Policeman Trash, Trash Can Rubbish, Rubbish Bin Beauty Salon Hair Salon Shrimp Prawns Vacation Holiday Coffee Break Tea Break Excuse me Pardon me Pick on someone Tease someone I have the impression that 'tease' to most Americans mean to flirt. Which is also the other meaning of 'tease'. Warm Hot In Malaysia, we girls like to drink warm (i.e. lukewarm or tepid) water. But don't ask for warm water here because 1. You will get a funny You-Drink-Plain-Water! look and 2. You will get HOT HOT HOT water as in piping hot. Order at your own peril. Now, there are what Ken calls Hick Phrases. There's always something new that keeps me asking Ken, "What did he say?" After we talked to someone.  Ken came home one day talking about 'The wash and rinse cycle' again. So I say, "You're doing laundry?". "No! wash and rinse cycle means the marry and divorce ritual." And no, we're not washing and rinsing anything! He was talking about someone who had talked to him during the day. "So, you want to have dinner at the greasy spoon?", Greasy spoon? "I didn't know there's a new restaurant around." He says, "No! The greasy spoon you know, like the local diner?"....... uh.... ok. When someone says they're riding the gravy train, they mean they are only having to put in very little work yet get nice benefits or work conditions. Pussy footing. No, this is not a vulgar expression. It simply means procrastinating, doing some other thing when there's a more important job to do. Motor mouth. This makes me laugh. Simply means someone who talks a lot. Zippidy-Do? When I asked Ken what that is, he said "It's like running around like a chicken with his head cut off." Basically, it means doing something without thinking or without logic. Bent out of shape, is to get upset. Pretty illustrious huh? So dear American spouses, you see that it's not only you who get all confused in a conversation! Till the next time, here's wishing all of you Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Selamat Hari Raya and Happy New Year y'all! You'll hear from us again, next year.
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