An example of what I mean:

I, in China, told an English speaking Chinese friend I needed to stop off in the bathroom to "take a shit."

He looked appalled and after I asked why he had that look, he asked what I was going to do with someone's shit.

I had not laughed so hard in a while, and it totally makes sense.

I explained it was an expression for pooping, and he comes back with, "wouldn't that be giving a shit?"

I then got to explain that to give a shit means you care and I realized how fucked some of our expressions are.

What misunderstandings made you laugh?

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[–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

So he wanted to tell them to clean up their junk, but mixed up the phrase?

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    He thought a "horse bath" was just a quick rinse off in the sink. He was inadvertently teaching ESL elementary school kids the phrase "whore's bath" which, while it is technically just a quick rinse in the sink, there is definitely different connotation.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    just a quick rinse off in the sink

    Bird bath, sparrow bath, crow bath. Terms in some Indian languages for that.

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