Have u been in situation where u find urslef lost in translation? it happens a lot i guess when ppl talk in languages that u dont master and u really feel lost... especially when u desperately need the information that's passing thru... frequent huh? hmmm... and have u even been in situation where u are "caught" in between translation?
Here is my intepretation of being Caught in translation :P :P
It was last day of convocation festival. I was so busy at the gift shop, helping with the sales so I didn’t have the leisure to go around the convo site. Shops and stalls were supposed to be closed before midnight so I used the few hours left to go around and look for something worth a purchase.
I stopped at the book stall, they were from Saba media. They sell Islamic books and journals and most of them were in English. My original intention was to get a copy of al-Mathurat, but browsing through; I found some page-turning books.
The owner and his staff conversed in Tamil when they speak among themselves. I was going through 3 books when suddenly an elder man whom I guessed would be the boss; he was around 50 years old, condemning his assistant for giving the wrong price to one of the customers beforehand. The younger guy had certainly hit below the margin and he was apologizing for the mistake. It was not a serious argument as a few minutes later they were chatting and laughing over some other matters.
I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I couldn’t help it, I just understood every single thing. From one look, slalunya people tak bajet yang i can understand or apatah lagi bercakap dalam bahasa lain slain bahasa kebangsaan. but seriously, nowadays mmg takleh bajet sapa bleh cakap bahasa apa kan... sudah rojak maa.
By the way, back to the story, I thought I was being rather mischievous, thinking the information would be pretty handy for me to bargain later, heheh.
The boss was in front of me and upon realizing that I was somehow glued to the books, he approached, speaking in Malay and English “Good books, just choose which one, harga boleh kurang”
I was laughing inside; yes I know can kurang sampai mana. The uncle explained about the books that I was flipping through and finally I made my choice. He stated the price and with the information I had earlier... now, it’s the time to bargain, I decided.
“Tak boleh kurang ka?”
Oh nooo… What I said was fine but my tone was, if I heard myself correct, sounded a bit seductive. Euuuww… didn’t know where that came from… :P
The uncle choked and turned to his assistant, speaking in tamil
“Pochida, kadhal udherangge”Translation: “Alamak, she’s trying to seduce me”…
Ohh tidakkk…. He was about the same age as my father and no way that I would have any intention to be funny with him. Tidakk!! My face turned hot out of embarrassment and disbelief. Usually when ever I caught up in a situation where I understood what people say and it was about me, I just kept quiet. But that night was not one of those, I had to clear my image :P
Therefore, I gathered my courage, cleared my throat and said clearly
“Anthe mari kadhal kadhal la kadiyathe”
Translation: “No such lovey dovey thing going on here”
Here is my intepretation of being Caught in translation :P :P
It was last day of convocation festival. I was so busy at the gift shop, helping with the sales so I didn’t have the leisure to go around the convo site. Shops and stalls were supposed to be closed before midnight so I used the few hours left to go around and look for something worth a purchase.
I stopped at the book stall, they were from Saba media. They sell Islamic books and journals and most of them were in English. My original intention was to get a copy of al-Mathurat, but browsing through; I found some page-turning books.
The owner and his staff conversed in Tamil when they speak among themselves. I was going through 3 books when suddenly an elder man whom I guessed would be the boss; he was around 50 years old, condemning his assistant for giving the wrong price to one of the customers beforehand. The younger guy had certainly hit below the margin and he was apologizing for the mistake. It was not a serious argument as a few minutes later they were chatting and laughing over some other matters.
I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I couldn’t help it, I just understood every single thing. From one look, slalunya people tak bajet yang i can understand or apatah lagi bercakap dalam bahasa lain slain bahasa kebangsaan. but seriously, nowadays mmg takleh bajet sapa bleh cakap bahasa apa kan... sudah rojak maa.
By the way, back to the story, I thought I was being rather mischievous, thinking the information would be pretty handy for me to bargain later, heheh.
The boss was in front of me and upon realizing that I was somehow glued to the books, he approached, speaking in Malay and English “Good books, just choose which one, harga boleh kurang”
I was laughing inside; yes I know can kurang sampai mana. The uncle explained about the books that I was flipping through and finally I made my choice. He stated the price and with the information I had earlier... now, it’s the time to bargain, I decided.
“Tak boleh kurang ka?”
Oh nooo… What I said was fine but my tone was, if I heard myself correct, sounded a bit seductive. Euuuww… didn’t know where that came from… :P
The uncle choked and turned to his assistant, speaking in tamil
“Pochida, kadhal udherangge”Translation: “Alamak, she’s trying to seduce me”…
Ohh tidakkk…. He was about the same age as my father and no way that I would have any intention to be funny with him. Tidakk!! My face turned hot out of embarrassment and disbelief. Usually when ever I caught up in a situation where I understood what people say and it was about me, I just kept quiet. But that night was not one of those, I had to clear my image :P
Therefore, I gathered my courage, cleared my throat and said clearly
“Anthe mari kadhal kadhal la kadiyathe”
Translation: “No such lovey dovey thing going on here”
Hence it was then the uncle’s turn for embarrassment and disbelief. He looked over to his assistant again and that guy was already half way exploding with humongous laugh.
In just a blink, the sheepish man jumped out of the stall and couldn’t hold his own laughter as well. I stood there not making an inch of a move and I was posing a macho stature because I knew I was at the winning side.
After he was somehow composed, he came back in and asked in tamil “speak tamil?” I just nodded a macho nod. He kept apologizing and said he was just joking. I knew it was a joke but I manipulated the situation to make them feel guilty ehehehe… well, with the hope I get extra-extra discount for the book.
I spoke as monotonous as I could sound, and stressed the word uncle so that my intention would not be misinterpreted again. As a result, I came back buying the book with a good discount and feeling very fulfilled, like I won some match or something… Ahaks…
So… what have u learned from this incident?
Don’t judge a book by its cover
- Marilah kita belajar pelbagai bahasa
- Control your intonations and gestures when you speak, people can get the wrong ideas okay…
- Kadhal means Cinta/Love
- I am seductive after all… hihihihihie
= This story happened back in August 2006 =]
