Thus revealed, the creature buried its nose in the tire-tilled soil...
August 1, 2014
Misapprehension
Category: Miscellany

So today at work, during a lunch break of sorts, I was chatting with this woman from corporate. The conversation was pretty one-sided, but I got her talking about her life and professional history and whatnot -- she went on for several minutes about how she'd lived in Korea and Brazil before coming to the United States. Then she stopped ... and, after a meaningful pause, she smiled and said, "I like you, Wes."

I was touched. Like, really touched; my eyes teared up a little at the corners and I felt that weird cold tickle in my breast. And I started to say, "Awww, thank you so much...! I like you, too" -- but then I caught myself and re-parsed her statement. She confirmed my new read when she added, "Is very nice here."

The woman from corporate hadn't said, "I like you, Wes." She'd said, in broken English, "I like US."

And upon realizing her meaning -- even though I had no strong affection for this woman (she's nice, but that's all; in any case she's married and notably older than I am) and might not have minded if she'd slipped out without saying goodbye (today was her last day) -- I felt oddly sad.

Engrish is a bitch.

-posted by Wes | 12:06 am | Comments (1)
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