ABCisms

Cross-cultural mishaps as an ABC....

At my cousin's grandma's 80th birthday banquet a few weekends ago, I was trying to tell another cousin that he should drink more water if he wants clearer skin. Some other cousin was giving him a stupid tip that was akin to boiling tree bark and old socks (not the exact recipe) and drinking it for a week.

So I started arguing with her that he just didn't drink enough and was dehydrated. I was yelling "No, he just doesn't have enough water! (不够水!!)" not remembering that 水 was slang for money. So my pimply cousin quickly whips out his wallet and says "Of course I don't have enough money, will you give me some?"

Haha, clearly, what I said was clearly not what I meant to say. I left out the crucial verb "to drink." woopsh. This is the kind of trouble I have with speaking in general. I feel that my Chinese (especially Cantonese) is extremely limited, especially since graduation. I don't have the opportunities to speak Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) as much since I don't usually interact with Chinese-only speakers.

I was so embarrassed. This is the kind of stuff that university language studies can not prepare you for... haha. have you ever had something like this happen to you?