Don't let the cat out of the bag!

My wife is Persian and English can be a very strange language when things are translated literally.There are so many strange examples that we speakers of English as our native language give no thought to.

Example:

My dear wife (DW) runs the ESL (English Secondary Language) deparment at the local Community College. One of her co-workers is from Japan and since I lived in Japan for a number of years I got involved in planning a birthday party at our house. The Japanese teacher is a very well educated and cat loving person. Anyway, I came up with what I thought was a brilliant party idea (he was hitting the big five oh). So as our meeting was drawing to a close and the notes gathered up, I announced "OK, nobody let the cat out of the bag on this!!"" Things became quiet. The Japanese women looked at me like I was from outer space. It was then I noted a dialog that went something like this:

Why would anybody leave a cat in a bag?
Why would we do something so mean?
Of course I would let a poor kitty out of a bag!


And on and on it went. I went from being a good guy to a mean old man. It just so happened that it was raining cats and dogs at the time. I thought it would be best not to even mention anything about the weather...

It's strange to think how everyday phrases really don't make much sense when it comes down to it.

Heh. I'm married to a native arabic speaker who was taught british english in school, so not only do I have our odd colloquialisms to explain, I have to constantly defend my upper midwest pronunciation of words (think hints of the movie Fargo)

We're constantly arguing about how things should be pronounced. Whenever he hears someone say it his way on TV, he's like, see! No honey, you live in Minnesota, you're a minnesotan now, so speak like one, dang it!

LOL I have an online friend that lives near San Antonio, TX. Several years ago, I traveled out there to meet her and several other people from around the states. Some of her slang made me laugh. "Ya'll" meaning one person and "Ya'lls" meaning more than one. "Icehouse" to me means a place to buy ice only but I guess there is means a convenience store like 7-Eleven or Circle K. I can still here her say "Ya'lls wanna go down to the Icehouse for a soda water?"

Originally Posted by Catkiki

LOL I have an online friend that lives near San Antonio, TX. Several years ago, I traveled out there to meet her and several other people from around the states. Some of her slang made me laugh. "Ya'll" meaning one person and "Ya'lls" meaning more than one. "Icehouse" to me means a place to buy ice only but I guess there is means a convenience store like 7-Eleven or Circle K. I can still here her say "Ya'lls wanna go down to the Icehouse for a soda water?"

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In the town I live in, people says yous all the time. I once worked with a girl and she left a note about something and wrote "you'se."

Non native English speakers aren't the only ones who have problems with sayings like that. Some people understand the meaning of what they hear as being literal.

I used to be worse as a young child, I wouldn't speak up but I'd be confused. Reading, a lot, helped me learn a lot of sayings because it's easier to learn their meanings in text where there's no distractions.
Occasionally more subtle sayings that I'm not familiar with will still confuse me.

Most of my online friends are not native English speakers. I think the fact that I don't use a lot of sayings and am pretty straightforward in what I say seems to make it easier for them to understand.

very interesting Lee... how the cultures are crossed...

Ya think that's bad? I once worked with a very sweet, innocent (though married to an American) Iranian lady, who loves cats. Years ago, a former director used to display raunchy Xmas cards they had gotten over the years. The display was in the business office, near the copier. Anyway, A. (the Iranian lady) picked up the one that had a cartoon of Santa, holding a cat. I had already read the inside, and everyone waited for A. to actually say it out loud, thinking, "Surely, she'll see what it says, and stop!?" Nope! "Is bad?" "Yes, A., is bad." "Oh!" Then she picked up the one that said something about Xmas balls. Use your imagination here, folks!

(In case you were wondering about card #1, the card read, "Guess what I'm giving you for Xmas?" Inside:"A little KITTY!" (not the actual word; you know what it was!))

(I also had to explain the American slang terms to her...she avoided those cards like the Plague after that!)

You big ole meanie!!