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Homophones Across Languages

Around two weeks ago, I went to 7-Eleven nearby my home and charged my Nanaco (7-Eleven membership and prepaid electronic money) card. I wanted to charge for 1000 yen. I gave my money to the staff, he charged my card, then used the Nanaco to pay stuff I bought.

But then he put 1000 yen one more time to my card. Wait, but he charged already in the beginning right? Hmmm... And then he wanted to give my 1000 yen back. I rejected since it was the money to pay my card charge. If I received then I would get 3000 yen for free πŸ˜‚

While walking home, I checked the receipt, and yeah, he put 2000 yen on my money. I was thinking a little bit, should I assume this as my luck or should I go back to the store to tell this that the staff made a mistake. I ended up doing the first one πŸ˜‚ Greedy human.

And the staff who made a mistake was an old man and his name is γŸγ„ (Tai).

Few days later, I went to the same eleven around 11 pm. That time, the staff who served me is the owner and his name is also Tai. Out of curiosity, I asked him whether Tai-san who is always work in the morning is his father, and immediately the owner and another guy said, "Yes, he is our father." Then I realised another guy also has the same name: Tai. They are brothers. 

I asked them whether they are Japanese because this is my first time to know Japanese family name Tai. If Chinese family name Tai, many people has it. The owner said many Tais are from northern part of Kyoto. The owner brother told me the kanji of is 'ta' of 'field' and 'i' from 'well: η”°δΊ•.When I got back home, I checked and even there is a town called 'Tai' in Kyoto.

Then I got more curious whether they have been to Indonesia or not. What if they reserve a hotel room, and the receptionist ask them, "So the booking is in the name of Mr. Tai?"

And since Japanese most likely using their family name to introduce themselves then they will say,

"Hi, I am Tai."

And what if they start to learn Bahasa Indonesia, and they will say, "Saya Tai."

Tai means 'shit' in Indonesian 😭

One day, I went to Kebab store near my school with a Nigerian friend. He talked about Nigerian snack he is missing called Puff Puff. I think it is similar with poffertjes or doughnut. I checked immediately on Google with keyword: puff puff Japan. And what I found was, "puff puff is a Japanese term for the placing of a person's face between a woman's breasts, often for sexual pleasure". 😭😭😭

Nigerian also has snack called 'chin chin', and it means 'men's genital' in Japanese. πŸ˜‚

What if a Japanese visits a family in Nigeria and they serve chinchin and puff puff for him/her 😭

In my school there is a lady called 'Saaru'. In Japanese, 'saru' means monkey, and in Javanese 'saru' means 'obscene'. Another case, there is a teacher in my school who has an Arabic name, and it means 'monkey' in Nepali πŸ˜‚

5 komentar untuk "Homophones Across Languages"

  1. HAHAHAHA Keindahan bahasa ya. Makanya kalo punya anak nanti mesti hati2. Mesti cek ada arti lain nggak. Ntar kasian dibully hahaha

    BalasHapus
  2. Hahaha. Unaaaa, absurd banget deh. Jadi keinget bahasa jawa sama sunda juga kadang beda artinya. Wkwk. Kebayang itu gmn kekinya nyebut nama sendiri kalo namanya Mr. TAI. XD

    BalasHapus
  3. Hahaha, kadang aku mikirnya mungkin kata didunia itu cuma diputar putar aja ya untuk perbedaanya :P

    BalasHapus