Stupid Things I’ve Said

Oops!

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash

“Will you go out with me for dinero?”

I proudly asked my Spanish professor. The whole class (90 students) burst into laughter. Moments later, I realized dinero was money, not dinner. Oops! Prof winked “yes!”

“Pramaadham!”

We had just moved to Hyderabad where Telugu is spoken. We were in conversation with our neighbor who spoke no other language. Ever quick to pick up a new tongue, I was eager to use what little I knew. She shared some good news. And I said “pramaadham!”. My mother tongue Tamil and most south Indian languages have similar words. Not this one though. In Telugu, pramaadham means danger while in Tamil it means ‘excellent!” No wonder the woman looked puzzled, excused herself, and went away.

Oh, I now speak Telugu fluently.

Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ❤ Did you smile today?

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