It's not always what you think it means

Before my trip to Munich, Germany, a friend posted this picture on Facebook. He was warning all of us non-German speaking friends not to be confused when entering the restroom. (If you know just a little bit of German, you will probably be wondering what the fuss is all about.)

To him, "Damen" means Gents because the German word contains "men".

"Herran" would then mean Ladies because the German word begins with "her".

Dead wrong!

It is exactly the opposite! "Damen" is German for Ladies, while "Herran" is German for Gentlemen.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I suddenly remembered that "dame" is a lady and "herr" means Mister. Would I have been confused with the signs anyway? Yes. It has been way too long for me to make sense of the words quickly. At the art museum in Munich, the toilet signs read "D" and "H". Which one would be for me?

My travelling companion said that on her previous trip, she actually waited outside the toilet for someone to come out, just so she would not enter the wrong toilet!

Thankfully, many of the newer toilet signs show the universal picture of a man or a woman - no words to cause confusion.

One final thought: if someone from Hawaii looked at these signs, he would automatically think that "Damen" is the Gents. In Hawaii, "damen" would be pronounced "Da Men"!

Have fun with languages!

Confusing? No, not confusing

Dr Tu You You from China has made the headlines this week for being one of the winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Everyone in China is celebrating the win! People around the world are celebrating the win!

When her birthday comes around, her family in China will definitely NOT be singing "Happy Birthday" to her in English. If they did, then this remark would hold true. However, more likely than not, the family would sing the song in Chinese, which would make this joke entirely irrelevant.

Some jokes just do not translate into another language.

I suppose that is part of the fun of cross-cultural communication!

Congratulations, Dr Tu You You! 恭喜你！

Photo credit: 9GAG

Facebook = "no choice but to die"

My Taiwanese friend got a job that requires her to write marketing articles for the bookstore where she works. Among other places, those articles will be posted on the store's Facebook page. Suddenly, posting things on Facebook has become a serious piece of work that must be done responsibly. No more spur-of-the-moment posts. This is what pays her. No more frivolous stuff.

Her first piece of work was given an "ok" by her supervisor, but with a warning that she had to think seriously about what she was writing. Suddenly, writing became such a burden. So she wrote, "我非死不可 (Facebook) ..."

It took me a while to figure out what she was saying. Then it dawned on me! 非死不可 is a mangled Chinese pronunciation of the English word "Facebook". (Loosely translated "no choice but to die".) Of course, it was also a play on the words that she now has no choice but to die to her personal desire to write anything that comes to mind.

Brilliant play on words and translation! It also brings a sobering message that anything posted on social media can be used against you. Post responsibly. Post at your own risk. The whole world is watching. A thoughtless remark can go viral in minutes. It could even cost you your job (as has been in two cases in Singapore).

Writing conveys a message. Write well. Write wisely.

Have fun with words!

Celebrate cultural differences!

Whether you believe in the existence of heaven and hell or not, everyone around the world will generally agree that heaven is the ideal and hell is, well ... the opposite. This poster says a lot about our cultural characteristics.

British are known for being orderly and very good at maintaining law and order.
Italians cook the most delicious food.
Germans can make and fix things with superb precision.
French are the world's romantics.
Swiss keep things running like clockwork (yes, pun fully intended).

When each of these nationalities is in his element, everyone is happy and things run smoothly. Exactly the way heaven should be, or at least we think heaven is like that.

However, when the different nationalities try to do something they are not good at, oh my! All hell breaks loose! Chaos!

The best advice I have heard is to find what you are good at and do it well! Everyone will be happy! We will be in seventh heaven!

So what is your country known for? Make that your passion and bring heaven to earth!

Vive la cultural differences!

Singapore's national footwear

National costume? Check. We've all heard of that.

National footwear? Hmmm ...

What do the majority of people in your country wear on their feet? I would consider that the national footwear.

In tropical Singapore, the national footwear happens to be flip flops. It's the footwear of choice in the heat and in the rain. We wear flip flops for comfort and practicality.

For a fun day out, wear shorts, a t-shirt and complete the look with a pair of flip flops. Ready!

Relac! Wear flip flops!

P.S. I think there are many other countries who can also say that their national footwear is flip flops. Look at Havaianas from Brazil.

What is important to you?

What is important to you?

Present enjoyment or delayed gratification?

Whichever you choose, that one is "importanter" to you! (At least according to this sign!)

Obviously the owner of the pub decided that beer (consuming, promoting, selling, etc) will be able to feed him and his family for a lifetime, so he choose that over a good education. That is his choice alone.

I hope that you, dear reader, will choose education instead! Absolutely no one can take learning away from you!

One added benefit: learning a language well ensures that you don't look stupid in front of others! Haha.

Have fun with English!

Shoot, frame, hang

Each of these words has different meanings, depending on the context of the sentence in which it is used.

"Shoot" can be about taking a photo, or cause harm to someone, in this case, your wife.

"Frame" a picture or a photo, or blame an innocent person for a wrong done.

"Hang": Well, this is simply to put it on a hook and nail it to the wall or ceiling, but it could also refer to someone committing suicide by tying a rope round his (in this case, "her") neck and fastening the other end of the rope to the ceiling.

This sign outside a photo studio is a really clever play of words. Creativity at its best!

Have fun with words!