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Since the destruction of the Tower of Babel, traveling around the world has become much more complicated by the fact that we often don't know other people's languages and customs. And while the first problem can still be dealt with by learning the language, the second is much more difficult - sometimes a whole lifetime is not enough to get acquainted with all the habits and traditions of another country.
Especially if you are going to this country for literally a couple of days. Then a variety of curiosities are almost inevitable. As it happened more than once with the participants of this viral thread in the AskReddit community, who then decided to share their funny and eye-opening fails online.
More info: Reddit
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#1
When I went through passport control in Jordan upon arrival I was a little bit frazzled after a full day of connecting flights
Here is how that conversation went, or rather *how I heard it*:
Officer: “First time, Air Jordans?”
Me: “Uhhh, no I just have Nikes on”
Officer: “Mam, first time, Air Jordans?”
Me, now looking at my feet, very confused: “Uhhhh, no I don’t have any Air Jordans but I guess I used to have them maybe sometime uhhh…”
Officer, somewhere between being pissed off and wildly amused: “Mam. Is this your first time, HERE IN JORDAN??”
I was so embarrassed I nearly died from shame, thankfully he let me through. It still pops up as a memory every once in a while, my brain is just not willing to let that one slide..
michael reid 2 days ago
I (Scottish) was leaving a site in Stoke (middle of England) and the young guy parked next to me had a nice BMW. As he was getting in I said "nice motor" and he looked at me annoyed I thought and said "no it's mine mate" and revved it all the way out of the car park. I couldn't figure out what his problem was until later when I realised he must have thought I said "Wife's motor?"
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#2
In Russia I wanted to buy meat from the deli counter. I didn't fancy trying to explain a weight I wanted, so pointed at some pre packaged meat trays behind a glass counter. She looked at me confused and told me to take it in Russian. I was like "I can't it's behind glass". Went like this for a while until I thought I'd demonstrate and put my hand to the glass, it wasn't glass, just fresh air, the glass counter stopped before the pre packaged items.
Green Machine 5 days ago
The social opposite of walking into glass you can't see/don't know is there.
#3
Staying with my brother in a hotel in Orlando. We are both Germans, my brother‘s english is mediocre at best. We wanted to start the next day early.
My brother asks me if they offer wake up calls in this hotel. I’m like „of course, just ring reception“.
Now, for context, six in German is „sechs“ and sounds similar to „s*x“.
My brother picks up the phone and I can hear him talking to the girl at the front desk: „yes yes I would like s*x in the morning“.
I could not stop laughing.
As of today, the original thread has more than 1.3K upvotes and around 706 comments with various stories and their lively discussion. The stories are discouraging, funny, sometimes sad - but in any case, interesting. And Bored Panda makes a selection of the most outstanding tales from this thread for your pleasure.
#4
So I refuled my rental car at a gas station in australia. I got to know Australians to be very outgoing, so when the girl at the counter asked me
“wher’re you from?”
I reckoned she wanted to have a little chat and started to talk about myself. But she was
“no, haha, I mean which gas pump”.
les 18 hours ago
not really, they call flip flops thongs which has probably led to many skinny dipping mistakes
Load More Replies...
Wang Zhuang 3 days ago
Okay, I would have definitely been confused, too. I'll have to ask my Aussie colleagues about this one.
SCamp 2 days ago (edited)
Australian here: I don’t doubt this happened and I would have been as confused as this guy, but I’ve never ever been asked ‘where you from?’ in my multiple-hundreds of times of paying for petrol. Pretty much every single time the customer says what number pump they used first and it’s petrol in Australia never gas.
Mason Kronol 1 day ago
Just got off the phone with my husband on his way home from work asking if I need anything and if he should fill up the tank. He has me so spoiled I said I don’t feel like driving to New Jersey if I need to go anywhere. Still LMAO at that 18 yr old boy stopping me and pumping my gas when I’ve been doing it since I was 9.
#5
I have a "lost in translation" story for you.
I love traveling to Indonesia, and eventually, I figured I had no more excused and began learning Bahasa Indonesia.
All proud of the few sentences I spoke, I made sure I would always tell people "see you later" upon leaving the shop, hotel, and/or restaurant.
It took me 4 days, and many confused looks for me to double-check what I was actually saying.
I meant to say "sampai nanti ya" (see you later), but instead, I told people "sampai manti ya," which beautifully translates to "until you die, yeah"...
Kristy Marion 5 days ago
Hmmm. This isn’t too bad. So they were using the slang saying which would be a little weird as it’s said to people you see often like friends and family. Friend “I’ll see you again” You “Until you are no more, yes, we will” Lots of languages have slang sayings that translate weirdly in English
#6
Nothing too embarrassing but I still laugh about it, went to a fancy restaurant in Kyoto once and the hostess put down a little bowl of what I guessed was soup/broth on the table so I drank it. She came back about a minute later with some tempura and seemed surprised that I drank the dipping sauce that was intended for it. She was like “oh…. did you like it?”.
Of course, the stories told here are mostly about tourists not having any idea about some cultural or culinary customs in the country they are visiting - and this turns into some embarrassing yet amusing experience for them. Someone drinks sauce in a restaurant, someone breaks an unspoken rule of local etiquette, and someone even confuses the name of the local airline with the brand of their sneakers.
#7
When I had just arrived to the Philippines, I couldn’t find my friend. A cop (or perhaps a security guard) asked if they could help. I told him what’s going on and he offered to call my friend, which I accepted. We make contact with my friend and I find her. The cop extends his hand which I took as wanting a high five. So I gave him five and ran off. It wasn’t until later that I realized he wanted a tip. 😂.
UncleJohn3000 4 days ago (edited)
You owe it to yourself to research the hidden economies before travelling. In some countries, bribery is a crime, in others it's the primary business model if you want to get something done. A surprising one is the trading of a small gift after a transaction as a nod to the gods of commerce. Bic pens worked really well for me. Some countries do not haggle, some don't respect you if you do not, and for most it's a combination of dance and martial art with the art of commerce placing bets.
#8
I was in France, Cannes on vacation with my GF.
There were Fireworks and lots of people because it was the 14. july french national Day.
There was a Bus with Food and i tried to order some Food. I can speak french but not super well. But to my excuse, the crowd was super loud and i couldnt hear the cashier properly. (Atleast thats my side of the story lmao)
So the cashier apparently asked what my name is. Idk why? So i, instead of telling my name i ordered Salmon. Repeated it. Because i tought she couldnt hear me.
She asked again if my name really is monsieur Salmon…..
My gf and the cashiers were dying with laughter..
So, from this day on. I go by the name of Monsieur Salmon 🍣🐟.
#9
In Spanish "constipado" means you have a cold.
Spaniards have been getting massive diarrhea on top of the cold they already had in every English and French speaking country since the beginning of time (my mom, in Geneva in the 70s).
Why do people get lost in translation abroad? The thing is, many languages of the world have their own unique specifics, so even if you know the basics of the language, you can still make annoying and funny mistakes.
"Every language has something unique - it could be in the syntax, the semantics, the phonetics, or the vocabulary, and that element is impossible to translate perfectly into another language," this dedicated post on Seven Circumstances says.
"For instance, Dutch has many uses for the diminutive, and many subtle meanings attached to each variant. <...> But those diminutives just sound weird in English." And if we are talking about languages from other language groups, with a fundamentally different system of syntax and word construction, then it becomes even way more complicated.
#10
Actually this happened to my husband when he was living in Europe for a summer in college. He was in France in a bakery and wanted to tell the baker how good the bread was. Freshly baked, flaky, no preservatives, etc. So he tried to make an English word sound French by saying no “préservatif”. Well that is the French word for condom. So the baker looked at him like he was crazy. Funny story though…..
#11
In my language we have the same word for try and taste. I was shopping pants and asked in three stores if I could taste them.
#12
Showing up at the airport with my family the day after our scheduled flight. The worst part was my dad was there dropping us off. 😂 Thank god the agent took pity on us & there were seats available, she booked us in on that evening’s flight without any fees. That by far is the most embarrassing but had the best outcome.
In the mid-90s I was on a youth exchange between Uruguay and Canada. We were a group of youth working in rural communities & living with local families. One of my good friends in the group who was from Toronto was assigned to a local school and got lost on his first day, arriving late. In his panic to explain, he starts off by telling his new employer that he was “muy embarazado” about arriving late on his first day, realizing later that he had told them he was pregnant.
At the same time, there are so-called "false friends of the translator" - the words that look familiar and share consonants with well-known words, but at the same time are not even cognates. For example, in the Ukrainian language, the word "voda" means "water," but at the same time, the word "vodiy" has nothing in common with water and means "driver."
And such words and expressions are present in literally every language in the world - so even if you have superficial knowledge of some language, there is no guarantee that at some point you will not be let down by these "false friends." And then the main thing that remains is to simply perceive the failure with humor. And, perhaps, share your story in our selection.
#13
I was in St. Petersburg, Russia, a teenager visiting a host family. I REALLY needed to use the bathroom. I had eagerly eaten all the new food. Tummy issues. In the broken language I knew I ask for a “rest room”. I was graciously shown my room with a bed. I think my face said more than my words so it worked out. Just super embarrassing.
#14
When I was 16, my family traveled to Europe. We mostly ate at restaurants with a waiter and a menu and would work together to figure out what each item was. But one day we went to a cafeteria style restaurant where you got a tray, pushed it along, and selected your food yourself. I came to the beverages and saw big glasses of nice cold milk, which I hadn’t had all vacation. I grabbed one and sat down to eat. I took a huge gulp and nearly spit it back out thinking it was spoiled. Turns out it was buttermilk, which is what the sign said in German.
#15
My friend and I went to a local restaurant in Indonesia, a jar of water on our table, we drank it, the local people looked at us. We saw local people use it wash their hands, that not for drink,only for wash hands.
Here we have collected lots of exciting and funny stories from different countries all over the globe, so we are almost sure that you will definitely find a story to your liking. And if not - I do suppose that you also have a similar case behind you, so please feel free to share it with us in the comments below this post of ours.
#16
I was an exchange student living in Paris. My French improved a lot pretty quickly. One of the daughters hung out with questionable friends. I tried to do my own thing but apparently, she rubbed off on me.
At my prim grandmother's request, I made arrangements to meet an old friend of hers who lived at a very posh address. I was holding my own, French-wise, at a restaurant until we talked about dessert. She asked (in French) if I wanted cream or sugar on my strawberries. I said, "Je m'en fous." Basically means, "I don't give a f**k." I didn't know this until I returned to the States.
#17
In my own country in Australia I was in a different state and got pulled over to get breathalyzed. I was used to the type where you put your mouth on a straw and blow. But the cop in the other state held up a device near me and told me to count to 10. Super confused, I asked "...where do I blow?" and he repeated the instruction again, just count to 10. Again, confused, I leant in to blow into nothing until my passenger laughed and explained it and I wanted to melt away into my seat. I was completely sober.
#18
I can’t remember how much I actually took out of the ATM but I got my Krona/USD conversion wrong and the comma thing screwed me up.
I looked like Scrooge McDuck swimming in cash.
#19
My recent travel to Hong Kong was more than 15 years after my first one. This time, I was vacationing with my sisters. On our first night we went to all these food stalls along the street and I kept seeing “Octopus available” in almost all of them. So I thought to myself, “Wow, grilled octopus must be really popular here!”
I then went ahead to the next stall and bought myself some grilled Octopus. I was so excited and told my sisters “Look, I got some octopus! It seems to be very popular here as all the stores say they have it!” Only for them to laugh at my face and tell me that Octopus is what they call their train cards, much like Oyster for the UK. Good thing the grilled Octopus was tasty.
Tyranamar Suess 4 days ago
Oyster I get bc it's kind of flat and you could transport many to trade. But how is octopus related to tickets or money?
#20
When we first moved to the US and barely knew any English, my mom got her first job and she became quite friendly with her first boss. I forgot the occasion but she bought her boss a greeting card that said “with sympathy”, which my mom didn’t [realize] was for the funeral. She thought it meant like with appreciation or something lol.
#21
Was in Lima, Peru earlier this year, and I speak minimal Spanish. Having been immersed for a few days I got confident in my non-existent Spanish skills, and decided I would order a coffee using only Spanish and no English.
I sit down at the Cafe, and the server comes up to me. I want to order a hot coffee, but very quickly he says something I don't understand, I panic, and instead of saying the Spanish word for "hot" (caliente), I say the Spanish word for "shut up" (callate). His eyes go wide and he just kind of stares at me for a a few seconds, and he clarifies "no frio?" (Not cold). And I reply with yes. So.. thankfully he knew I wasn't trying to be a jerk and what I was trying to order.
I didnt even realize my mistake until a few hours later.
#22
Showing up to a hotel on the other side of the world the day before my actual reservation. Done it twice. I may be calendar-challenged.
#23
A year abroad in Italy four guys sharing an apartment and we had maids who would sweep everyday and change sheets and give you a clean towel and dishrag once a week. I became really close to the maids and they came in one day after we just finished having a dinner party for all of our friends to mop. The maid burst out laughing when she saw my roommate drying the dishes with what was apparently the bidet towels they provided weekly.
#24
Oh we got on a train in Bologna a few years ago, and a guy was in my seat. He insisted he wasn’t and the conductor guy came over and pointed out my ticket was for the following day. Wow. It was an express, so at the next stop we had to buy tickets back to Bologna, walk back to our place where we’d dropped the key at the office and explain we needed it back. It was a three week trip and I’d just totally lost track of the days.
#25
I brushed my teeth with hemorrhoid cream at my host’s house in Sweden, many years ago, thinking it was toothpaste.
I also made a caviar and jelly sandwich with the paste caviar from the metal tube, thinking it was peanut butter.
This was before unlimited international data on smart phones :).
#26
I accidentally joined a Spanish tour group in Budapest. It was my last day there and no way I could change to an English group because there were none that day. I definitely do not look like I speak English (Asian) so I had to follow along and act like I did. When people looked up, I looked up. When people giggled I giggled 😅😅 I got through it but the whole experience makes me chuckle.
#27
Exact same thing happened to me in a small town in Czech Republic, went to the check out with a head of cabbage thinking you are charged for a head not by the weight of it. Lady said something to me in czech and instead of saying to her “I don’t speak czech” I proceeded to go back to veggie section looking for a head with a barcode on it. I returned with the same blank cabbage, it was then I confessed I was a foreigner and had absolutely no idea what she was saying, her colleague took the cabbage and then weighed it….what an idiot I felt like.
¬_¬ 9 hours ago
This happened to me in Badelona, Spain I bought some oranges and I realised there wasn't a price tag on them. I went to the cashier and I didn't understand what she said, so she just went and weighed it. The machine printed out a barcode corresponding to the weight of the fruit. I felt so dumb.:)
What do you think ?
zzbc6m22fq 4 days ago
I was living in Dalian, China for about 3 years, and I thought that my Mandarin was becoming acceptable. I tried speaking to several different people every day and felt that I had a basic understanding of how to get around and shop and engage in small talk. One day, I was walking past a little hole in the wall style restaurant that had about 6 small tables and what looked like local workers and shop people having lunch. The food smelled great, so I went in to have some wonton soup. After getting past the shocked patrons seeing a 6' 2" caucasian with long hair and a beard come in to eat, they all listened while I ordered something to eat. Well, confident as I was, I still made an embarrassing mistake when instead of asking for wonton soup (hundun). Accidentally, I asked for a bowl of bastard (hundan). There were about 4 seconds of silence, and then the roof came off as everyone started to laugh outrageously. In the end, I stayed for a couple of hours chatting the best.
Diolla 2 days ago
Was in Touba, Senegal, staying in the home of a local family. It was time for the morning shower. They directed me to their bathroom. As they had no running water, there was a very large tub filled with water to wash with. So I stepped into the tub and washed myself. Only to find out later that I had spoiled the water for the entire family as I was supposed to scoop water OUT of the tub with the little bowl next to it and wash like that. Soo embarassing, they had to go to the well and fetch water again. This was over 20 years ago, I am now used to this system even in homes with running water, as the water is not always running LOL
ExistentialSoup 4 days ago
I was living in Ecuador and trying to think of the word "rope" for the horses we were working with. I kept asking for "ropa" which means "clothes." Clothes for the horse.
GoodWolf 2 days ago (edited)
My friend told their hosts in Spain they were going rock climbing "sin ropa", without a rope. "Sin ropa??" "Sí!😁" So they told them they were going climbing butt naked
Load More Replies...
MoMcB 3 days ago
My family always liked to travel, and back in 1981, we decided to go on a camping trip to Spain, travelling down from London on a coach, with an overnight stay in Paris. My uncle went out to buy cigarettes. Instead of just asking (they have the same name in French), he decided it couldn't be that simple and started to mime to the sales lady. She thought he was making a pass and threw him out of the shop
MauKini 4 days ago
I was working in a bar in Spain, my spanish was okish but i was still learning. A friend of mine had a bunny, he couldnt look after it anymore so i took him in. He was the cutest little thing. I had so many pictures of him on my phone and told basically every guest in that bar about my pet bunny and asked them if they wanted to see a picture. Some were very cunfused some very eager to see the picture. I did that for about three weeks until someone took pity on me and told me, that i was actually telling people that i had "lady parts -- a p***y) and if they wanted to see a picture..
Mari 2 days ago
Last summer I was in Madrid. We visited a museum. There was an older man talking in English to his grandchild? and explaining everything about the Roman art and objects. When he turned around the corner I said to my kids (in Dutch) "hurry up, I want to listen to that grandpa, he knows so much about that stuff!" When I entered in that other room the man said to me: "geen probleem hoor!" That's 'no problem' in Dutch. I was so embarrased, he was a Dutch tourist and understood everything I've said.
François Bouzigues 2 days ago
In New Delhi, I inadvertently walked into a women-only subway car. The lady-cop that pulled me out of the car was kind enough to let me go with an explanation.
Donna Peluda 2 days ago
Doing some contract work in Marrakech I was driving down from Tangier. I was bursting for a pee and saw a little roadside bar with so I stopped my car, got out found the WC..all very rustic and basic. It was during the performance that I realised that the trough I was peeing in was actually to wash the feet before prayer. Luckily no one came in, and the tangine I eat was amazing, Lamb with all sorts, dried fruits and semola. 😋 I tried to find the place on another trip but this was before GPS.
M Calad 1 day ago
I was with a Romanian group (ex husband is Romanian) in Austria planning to hike the Grossglockner. My romanian was getting better, so I tried to speak often and join their conversations. We walked to a sightseeing place and the immense glacier of the area came out to view. I pointed out and said out loud "uite, o înghețată" thinking it meant "look! A glacier". It actually means "look, an ice cream". Everyone bursted out laughing. They thought it was the sweetest thing ever 🤭. gheţar = glacier.
Damned_Cat 1 day ago (edited)
I shamed myself right here in my own country. Understand that where I live, restaurants with fresh seafood are few and far between and anything with real crab meat in it is ridiculously expensive. I travelled to Seattle, Washington, which is home to some of the world's best seafood. I stopped in a coastal restaurant that offered a crab salad sandwich that sounded really good and priced inexpensively. I stupidly asked the server if it was real crab. She puts her hands on her hips as her mouth drops open. She looks me up and down and says, "what do YOU think?" Other folks in the diner were chuckling and another commented that I must not be a local. I learned my lesson and I think I ate my weight in crab meat on that trip.
zzbc6m22fq 4 days ago
I was living in Dalian, China for about 3 years, and I thought that my Mandarin was becoming acceptable. I tried speaking to several different people every day and felt that I had a basic understanding of how to get around and shop and engage in small talk. One day, I was walking past a little hole in the wall style restaurant that had about 6 small tables and what looked like local workers and shop people having lunch. The food smelled great, so I went in to have some wonton soup. After getting past the shocked patrons seeing a 6' 2" caucasian with long hair and a beard come in to eat, they all listened while I ordered something to eat. Well, confident as I was, I still made an embarrassing mistake when instead of asking for wonton soup (hundun). Accidentally, I asked for a bowl of bastard (hundan). There were about 4 seconds of silence, and then the roof came off as everyone started to laugh outrageously. In the end, I stayed for a couple of hours chatting the best.
Diolla 2 days ago
Was in Touba, Senegal, staying in the home of a local family. It was time for the morning shower. They directed me to their bathroom. As they had no running water, there was a very large tub filled with water to wash with. So I stepped into the tub and washed myself. Only to find out later that I had spoiled the water for the entire family as I was supposed to scoop water OUT of the tub with the little bowl next to it and wash like that. Soo embarassing, they had to go to the well and fetch water again. This was over 20 years ago, I am now used to this system even in homes with running water, as the water is not always running LOL
ExistentialSoup 4 days ago
I was living in Ecuador and trying to think of the word "rope" for the horses we were working with. I kept asking for "ropa" which means "clothes." Clothes for the horse.
GoodWolf 2 days ago (edited)
My friend told their hosts in Spain they were going rock climbing "sin ropa", without a rope. "Sin ropa??" "Sí!😁" So they told them they were going climbing butt naked
Load More Replies... MoMcB 3 days ago
My family always liked to travel, and back in 1981, we decided to go on a camping trip to Spain, travelling down from London on a coach, with an overnight stay in Paris. My uncle went out to buy cigarettes. Instead of just asking (they have the same name in French), he decided it couldn't be that simple and started to mime to the sales lady. She thought he was making a pass and threw him out of the shop
MauKini 4 days ago
I was working in a bar in Spain, my spanish was okish but i was still learning. A friend of mine had a bunny, he couldnt look after it anymore so i took him in. He was the cutest little thing. I had so many pictures of him on my phone and told basically every guest in that bar about my pet bunny and asked them if they wanted to see a picture. Some were very cunfused some very eager to see the picture. I did that for about three weeks until someone took pity on me and told me, that i was actually telling people that i had "lady parts -- a p***y) and if they wanted to see a picture..
Mari 2 days ago
Last summer I was in Madrid. We visited a museum. There was an older man talking in English to his grandchild? and explaining everything about the Roman art and objects. When he turned around the corner I said to my kids (in Dutch) "hurry up, I want to listen to that grandpa, he knows so much about that stuff!" When I entered in that other room the man said to me: "geen probleem hoor!" That's 'no problem' in Dutch. I was so embarrased, he was a Dutch tourist and understood everything I've said.
François Bouzigues 2 days ago
In New Delhi, I inadvertently walked into a women-only subway car. The lady-cop that pulled me out of the car was kind enough to let me go with an explanation.
Donna Peluda 2 days ago
Doing some contract work in Marrakech I was driving down from Tangier. I was bursting for a pee and saw a little roadside bar with so I stopped my car, got out found the WC..all very rustic and basic. It was during the performance that I realised that the trough I was peeing in was actually to wash the feet before prayer. Luckily no one came in, and the tangine I eat was amazing, Lamb with all sorts, dried fruits and semola. 😋 I tried to find the place on another trip but this was before GPS.
M Calad 1 day ago
I was with a Romanian group (ex husband is Romanian) in Austria planning to hike the Grossglockner. My romanian was getting better, so I tried to speak often and join their conversations. We walked to a sightseeing place and the immense glacier of the area came out to view. I pointed out and said out loud "uite, o înghețată" thinking it meant "look! A glacier". It actually means "look, an ice cream". Everyone bursted out laughing. They thought it was the sweetest thing ever 🤭. gheţar = glacier.
Damned_Cat 1 day ago (edited)
I shamed myself right here in my own country. Understand that where I live, restaurants with fresh seafood are few and far between and anything with real crab meat in it is ridiculously expensive. I travelled to Seattle, Washington, which is home to some of the world's best seafood. I stopped in a coastal restaurant that offered a crab salad sandwich that sounded really good and priced inexpensively. I stupidly asked the server if it was real crab. She puts her hands on her hips as her mouth drops open. She looks me up and down and says, "what do YOU think?" Other folks in the diner were chuckling and another commented that I must not be a local. I learned my lesson and I think I ate my weight in crab meat on that trip.
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