5.12.2010

Your What Hurts?

I've been feeling sick the past couple of days, which isn't very fun when it's super hot outside. To combat the illness, on the way to work this morning I stopped at our local gas station/grocery store (I kid you not, this place has everything) for some beverages to get me through the day. I go in the store pretty regularly, so the clerk knows me by now, and this morning, we had a very funny conversation.

Clerk: "How are you?"
Kate: "Eh, my throat hurts."
Clerk: "Oh, is your backpack too heavy?"
Kate (not sure how this relates): "Um, no, it's not."

It wasn't until after I had paid for my drinks and was almost to the office that I realized what happened. We were speaking Khmer, and the words for "neck" and "throat" are the same. Another fine example of how it's possible to have a conversation using the same words, but be talking about two very different things.

2 comments:

Ravi said...

Kate, he understood you perfectly. The whole country is in on a really big and elaborate joke to where they act like they don't understand what you're saying in an effort to confuse you on a regular basis. It's working way too well.

By the way, my throat hurts too. I'm going to take a few things out of my backpack and see if it gets better in the next couple days.

LauraLee Shaw said...

Aha! Ain't that the truth? Very common in marriage and friendship, as well as in Khmer. ;)

Hope you're feeling better, Kate.