Wedgies and Words
One of the most significant things I learned from traveling is that my thoughts are limited by the words in my language(s). You’ve probably heard the saying, “It’s hard to translate,” before. Some notions exist verbally in some languages and not others. Usually these translations involve subtleties, but sometimes it can be entire ideas, as well. If an idea is hard to translate from one language to another, imagine how hard it is to individually generate this idea if your language does not even have words to describe the idea!
A very crude personal illustration:
I was walking in Central Park with my German friend, when I found myself suffering from a wedgie. I asked him if we could stop a moment so I could pick it. Puzzled, he asked what a wedgie was. My explanation began, “Well, a wedgie is when your underwear gets shoved up your ass—and it usually happens while you are walking.” He paused a moment and then a lightbulb went off: “Oh, you mean, ‘Arsch frisst Hose!’” I then paused a moment, and said, “Yes, yes. ‘Ass eats pants.’” What was really astounding to me was that my whole life I considered the underwear as the “actor” in the wedgie process—the underwear shoves itself up the ass—, whereas my German friend saw the ass as the cause of the wedgie, while the underwear passively shoved by…
Moral of the story: the word “wedgie” is very limiting to explain the phenomenon of underwear being eaten by your ass.
**Shoutout to Billy Joe—who is finally getting his passport stamped for the first time this winter. I’m so happy for you!
Comment by Segen on 27 November 2008 at 12:04 am:
As an aside…traveling can also lead to hilarious language misunderstandings. Take my language problem involving Turkish prostitution…
I was at a bar in Berlin with one of my Turkish friends and we were speaking German–as it is our common language. I brought up the theme of prostitution, because we were solicited earlier on our way into the bar.
So I ask my friend with my best German, but with my undeniable Chicago accent, “What is prostitution like in Turkey?”
His answer was, “Well, I mean, it is *completely* legal in Turkey. They are everywhere. Simply everywhere. And in fact, I use one almost every day.”
I was totally appalled, but managed to keep cultural differences in mind. I then told him that “It is mostly illegal in the US and is oftentimes underground…” Yadayadayada.
He gets this confused look on his face and mentions, that he thinks we might be talking about two different things.
“What did you think I said?” I ask.
“I thought you said ‘Plastik Tuete’.”
Which translates to “plastic bags”… :-)
Comment by Billy Joe Mills on 27 November 2008 at 1:45 pm:
ahhaha wonderful post Segen, thank you much for it. I especially appreciated that picture :)
Comment by kevin on 27 November 2008 at 5:57 pm:
more pictures please.
Comment by JayBandit on 2 December 2008 at 2:03 pm:
Great story, haha!