Come on, have a guess! (Arabic)
While learning Arabic many years ago, I decided to introduce myself at a college party to a new student who had just arrived from Saudia Arabia. I went up to him and proudly asked for his name by saying, Ma ismiya? He looked at me strangely and shrugged. I repeated myself, Ma ismiya? A weird silence feel between us. He replied weakly, La a'ref or I don't know. I looked at him and thought he was joking. He doesn't know his own name? Ha! I repeated a third time, Ma ismiya? The student walked away from me with a confused look on his face. Suddenly, I realized that I was asking the student: 'What is my name' not 'What is your name'. He didn't know me and, of course, didn't know my name. He must of thought I was crazy. I tried to apologize later but he avoided me for the rest of the evening. I don't blame him.
Sent by: Ben
Comments
I know how this feels because exactly the same thing happend to me!
It's just confusing but when you're a pro it's really easy!
I've had similar situations with Arabic. I remember thinking that I was asking my friend 'Where are you?' over the phone only to realise later I had said 'where am I?'.
I was with my auntie in morocco and she asked me "What does shunoo mean?" I replied "what" She thought that I didn't hear her and repeated and it went on until she got angry and screamed "what does shunoo mean!" I yelled "it means what!"
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