Monday, May 28, 2012

Language -- Translation Mishaps

This is a literal translation of a conversation I had just the other night.

me:               Do you have any cigarettes?
shopowner:  Sure.
me:               ...
                    Oh, no, I mean the cigarettes you can eat.
shopowner:  ... you mean salt?
me:               Yeah!
shopowner:  Yeah, we have that too.

(Note: cigarettes [yan *high tone*] and salt [yan *rising tone*, though also *falling tone* in Kaifeng dialect] are near homonyms in Chinese.)