Say What?

We live in a multi-lingual world in Hong Kong. For most people here, English is a second (third, or fourth) language. I have made friends with people speak one or more of the following: Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Spanish, German, Malay, Italian, Vietnamese, Dutch, Tagalog, Russian, Punjabi, Danish, Swedish, and Japanese.

It is fun to listen to conversations between two people who natively speak different languages try to have a conversation in English – a lot of adjectives and hand motions are used in those conversations. I am constantly amazed by peoples’ abilities to switch back and forth between their native tongues and English. (I’ve observed that when a mom is speaking to her child in English, but suddenly changes to their native tongue, that kid is most definitely in trouble!)

That said, a lot of the English that is spoken here is NOT the English that I (or most other Americans) learned growing up. I have heard Brits openly lament that Americans are destroying “the Queen’s English.” Last summer, a British mom told a group of women (of different nationalities) that her son had come home from school talking about to-MAY-toes, not to-MAH-toes…then said under her breath “bloody Americans!” I decided it wasn’t a good time to bring up plans for the 4th of July. Ha.

In addition to picking up a little Mandarin, we have learned new English words or discovered new meanings for words we already know. Here’s a sampling of our new English vocabulary:

“Lift”- elevator
“Trolley” – shopping cart
“Bin” – trash can
“Rubbish” – garbage, trash
“Straight-away” – right now (e.g. “We are late, we must leave straightaway!”)
“Biscuit” – cookie (Doesn’t "biscuit" sound healthier?)
“Pram” – stroller
“Boot” – car trunk
“Torch” – flashlight
“Petrol” - gas
“Alight” – exit (“Please alight to the left of the train”)
“Fortnight” – two weeks
“Take away” – to go (as in taking food to go)
“Ring” – call (“Shall I ring you later?”)
“Queue” – get in line
“Mobile” – cell phone
“Car Park” – parking garage/lot
“Mind” – watch (e.g. you say “mind your step” when there is something you might trip on; or “mind your head” if there’s a risk of banging your head on something)
“Proper” – real, appropriate (e.g. if you’ve been eating junk food all day, you might say “I need to eat a proper meal”)
“Brilliant” – good idea
“Scheme” – a plan (usually related to government but, interestingly, does not have negative, devious connotations)
“Ropey” – very poor quality
“Dodgy” – of questionable repute

And, finally, one of my favorite frequently used phrases:

“I cannot be bothered”

This means that you have too much going on or are too busy to do something…as in “I cannot be bothered with yet another Girl Scout activity” (actually, this is a phrase I should be practicing and USING :) ). It sounds shockingly negative or sarcastic at first, but there no ill intent meant by it. Try it – it’s kind of fun to say!

Then, there are times when it’s hard to tell if something is a “proper English phrase” or just a bad translation:
After staring at this sign for a bit, we realized that it means no open flames by the gas tank. Petrol tank, that is.