This is so jokes
This is just another anecdote to further iterate my points in the post below.
During the weekend, I met up with a close friend who recently returned from her exchange program from Toronto. As we talked, the topic of intercultural communication crept up and I was asking her if there were any problems faced when she communicated with the Canadians. She informed me that initially the Canadian students could not understand her Singaporean accent when she spoke, so she learnt to speak slower when talking to her Canadian friends and tried to articulate he words more. She told me that she felt that in Singapore, we tend to roll out words without actually articulating them correctly and precisely.
A term which Canadians use commonly was 'funny'. They would say it in passing when talking to others, like 'you're so funny' even though the speaker had not talked about anything funny. At the beginning, my friend was quite upset whenever someone said that to her because she thought that it meant weird. In Singapore, we usually say 'you're so funny' when the speaker has actually made a joke or when we imply that the speaker is weird and random. However, further interaction with her friends she came to realize that the phrase wasn't meant for her to take it personally, as it was just an interjection to show that they are listening.
Another term which was commonly used was 'jokes'. Apparently my friend had organized a dinner party and had invited some of her Canadian friends over. The dinner was great and company awesome, and they all had a very good time. The next day, one of her guests came up to her in school and declared that the dinner was such a jokes dinner. My friend was insulted thinking that her guest meant that the dinner was a joke, and that it was horrible. She then tried to ask her friend what went wrong at the dinner party and all, this led to her friend clarifying with her that 'jokes' meant fun and enjoyable. So in fact, it was an entertaining dinner.
I guess there is no hard and fast rule to what different words mean in different societies. And if everyone applies the 3 tips featured in the last post, we probably could lessen the chances of being insulted and insulting others.
During the weekend, I met up with a close friend who recently returned from her exchange program from Toronto. As we talked, the topic of intercultural communication crept up and I was asking her if there were any problems faced when she communicated with the Canadians. She informed me that initially the Canadian students could not understand her Singaporean accent when she spoke, so she learnt to speak slower when talking to her Canadian friends and tried to articulate he words more. She told me that she felt that in Singapore, we tend to roll out words without actually articulating them correctly and precisely.
A term which Canadians use commonly was 'funny'. They would say it in passing when talking to others, like 'you're so funny' even though the speaker had not talked about anything funny. At the beginning, my friend was quite upset whenever someone said that to her because she thought that it meant weird. In Singapore, we usually say 'you're so funny' when the speaker has actually made a joke or when we imply that the speaker is weird and random. However, further interaction with her friends she came to realize that the phrase wasn't meant for her to take it personally, as it was just an interjection to show that they are listening.
Another term which was commonly used was 'jokes'. Apparently my friend had organized a dinner party and had invited some of her Canadian friends over. The dinner was great and company awesome, and they all had a very good time. The next day, one of her guests came up to her in school and declared that the dinner was such a jokes dinner. My friend was insulted thinking that her guest meant that the dinner was a joke, and that it was horrible. She then tried to ask her friend what went wrong at the dinner party and all, this led to her friend clarifying with her that 'jokes' meant fun and enjoyable. So in fact, it was an entertaining dinner.
I guess there is no hard and fast rule to what different words mean in different societies. And if everyone applies the 3 tips featured in the last post, we probably could lessen the chances of being insulted and insulting others.
Something on the lighter side :)
posted by ♥tiffany at
8:35 PM
4 Comments:
Hi Tiff!
Yeah!I like the comic that you put up and I totally agree with you different words mean in different societies! And I agree with what your friend did! Instead of feeling offended and showing her displeasure outwardly, she asked her friends what does the phrase/word means. I guess this is what we called being sensitive and 'doing what the Romans do in Rome". :D It is also wise of your friend not to flare up as I can imagine the unneccessary misunderstanding that it might caused.
I always feel that we as students are very fortunate, having so many opportunities to travel oveaseas, for internship programmes, for student experience... etc. It really open up our minds, expose ourselves to different culture, to see that the world is really big and is there for us to go and explore!:D
March 9, 2010 at 10:09 PM
Hey Van,
Thanks for the comments. I believe you would have had the same experience while on exchange to Montreal as well. It is so true that in this day and age, we are more fortunate then even our parents when they were our age. I believe that it is because the world has become a global village, with so much interconnectedness and greater accessibility to travel overseas. Also, a different mindset of our young people nowadays helps where they want to see the world before settling down.
March 12, 2010 at 9:09 PM
Yes indeed, words can take on different meanings depending on the society and social situation. I have heard the word "bad" mean "good" in relation to style. The word "gay" at one time simply meant "jolly" or "happy" --- not so today.
Thanks, Tiffany for the post.
March 18, 2010 at 10:29 PM
Thanks Brad for your comment.
I think that it is amazing that each different culture and even generation has various terms and phrases that are characteristic of each group. It forges some kind of identity of the group.
March 25, 2010 at 10:36 PM
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