Foreign Language Sayings - what they really meant!

[billski]

I am engaged in Central European research. The following true story came across my desk today. It is damn funny!

When I was in college I worked at a store that had an old Slovak bookkeeper. On payday everyone would rush her to get done. Sending someone to ask her, they would come back with the message she had for them. She would reply with a Slovak saying and she told everyone it meant "I am working as fast as I can". The messenger would then go around the store passing her message along.

The message wasn't "I am working as fast as I can" it was "Eat Sh** and die". She was a sweet old lady with a great sense of humor.

 

[snowmonster]

I went to school abroad and every now and then foreign students would join the class. They would ask us to teach them how to say "good morning" to the professor and basically we would give them the phrase which translates to "your mother is a prostitute."

 

[Warp Daddy]

I'm Irish and Italian and grew up in a Polish neighborhood and my friends were primarily Polish . Once when invited to a teamates home for dinner he said it would be really COOL for me to say something to his dad in Polish . Like a damn fool i took the bait .

After practicing the phase for a couple of days , i went to Sunday dinner a BIG family event in those days and stuck out my hand for a handshake to his father uttered my phrase and watched in HORROR as his fathers face went STERN as hell and his mom blushed and my friend and his sisters broke out laffing .

Seems what i had be taught to say was close to "Hi How are you "EXCEPT it was followed by the term -- you BIG ASSHOLE !!!

Well the ole man was on to it and slappede my friend up side the head then we ALL laffed