I noticed, during my recent trip to the UK, that my English is deteriorating. I had to book a physiotherapy session while I was there, and this is how the conversation went (abbreviated):
Me: Hello, I'd like to book an appointment for tomorrow.
Them: We have a slot at 8am.
Me: Great
Them: What exercise have you done recently?
Me: Well, on Monday I done yoga in the morning, and then I done a run in the evening.
I didn't even notice. It was only when I put the phone down that I realised how bad that sounded. I am obviously spending too much time with the wrong kind of people. Singlish is English words using a Mandarin grammatical construction, so you do hear some very weird expressions here. Some of my favourites are:
off/on the light - e.g. 'Please on the light'. I really had no clue what the person was on about the first time I heard this - it's amazing how the omission of part of the verb can confuse the native speaker!
isn't it? or is it? at the end of every sentence, with the intonation rising and falling. I have no idea why the locals do this, but Tim and I have started to do this as well - sometimes ironically, but often not.
can - this means, 'yes, I can' example: Me: "Please can you take the next left". Taxi driver: "Can."
also can - 'yes, I can also do this' example: Me: "Can you take this next left?" Taxi driver: "Also can"
cannot - 'I'm sorry, I cannot do that'
And then there's pronunciation, but that is a whole other story....
2 comments:
That's it, send back your degree, you are no longer allowed to be an English major!
But seriously, you made me giggle as I pictured you standing next to the phone with a horrified expression on your face!
Oh yes, living abroad does funny things to you. I often wiggle my pointing finger to someone forgetting that it is not yet a universal sign for "yes".
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