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Posts: 8,574One of the greatest joys of our beloved TeddyTalk is the opportunity to meet and make friends with people from all over the world! I love it!
But I was reminded today that we need to choose our words carefully, and most especially our idioms or colloquialisms -(Yep, those of you who know and love me, know there is no way I could spell that word without looking it up!)
Idioms, colloquialisms are funny little words or phrases that are common where we live, but make no sense to any one else in the world, and do not translate very well at all.
For instance, Californians are known for a few, like SAME DIFFERENCE
If we look this up it will be confusing....same alike difference well?????
Wheras those of us born and raised in the San Fernando Valley would know that it means; "yeah, I have a story like that but it's different but means the same....."
Other times we will use a word that isn't even close in meaning to what we are saying but everyone will understand.....unless they are from a differant region;
for instance: California kids went through a time saying something was BAD which meant it was awesome. Oh yeah, I get it; same difference.
For anyone who doesn't have English as a primary language this could be very confusing.
Hmmmm, I'm a little confused too! 
So when we are talking with our European friends let's remember that English is not their primary language, and when we talk to our Australian friends and they answer back? Well, English is English is English? NOT! 
Don't hesitate to ask for translations, and break down your idioms.....explain your colloquialisms....it will make for better understanding and that makes everyone happier!
And in reality, we are so lucky that our European friends do understand english as well as they do, because I would be lost trying to communicate in French, or German or Russian. or......
Come on folks, we can do better than the United Nations! We have the Teddies on our side!
:hug:
dilu
Acid Attic BearsThanks for this topic, dear Dilu ! :hug: :hug: 
Mountain Dreamer BearsHmmm... Now I'm trying to remember everything I've ever posted....hoping I haven't accidentally confused, or worse, offended anyone with a phrase or word I just take for granted. I will keep this in mind when posting.
Thanks for the reminder Dilu! One of the best things about TT is that it is an international community and we want to keep it happy one!
hugs,
Back Road BearsHmmm... Now I'm trying to remember everything I've ever posted....hoping I haven't accidentally confused, or worse, offended anyone with a phrase or word I just take for granted.
I have seen plenty of us ASK if we are unsure about a word not native to our language......
It's fun to learn new words and meanings to words we thought meant something else... broadens our horizons!!
I've learned a lot from our Aussie friends and Brits too... Penny in particular! It's like having a true English lesson! Hee Hee! 
And most of us I'm sure are apt to say "Hey, that word means such-and-such here, it's offending!" if we're bothered by something.
Not to worry, Bonnie. I'd hope that none of us are out to intentionally confuse or offend anyone! But thinking twice about some words is a good idea. We may not even realize that words common to us could upset someone else!
:hug: Daphne
This is a funny post, Dilu. It reminds me how glad I am that being PHAT has at least one interpretation that means, "TERRIFICALLY COOL!"
It also reminds me that, every time Penny mentioned (pre-quitting-attempt!) that she was going out to "have a fag," you just cannot IMAGINE the contorted wrestling duos my head leapt to first. In America, it probably goes without saying, we call them CIGARETTES... and the "f" word, which I don't like to use (it feels like the "n" word to me), refers to another concept ENTIRELY.
Smiling here...
Well-put, Dilu! I hope I've never offended anyone by using words that not everyone understands. I wouldn't have ever realized I was doing it. I think everyone here wouldn't try to offend anyone. It's something I've never even thought about. It's fun learning new phrases from other countries.
BEAR ME SHOOTKADilu, that is very interesting and so nice of you to think about the rest of the world... :hug:
Sometimes, I don't know how EXACTLY to translate some words, but I FEEL the languages and understand pretty much..
Huggs, Julia
Does anybody speaks Russian? (not using Babelfish!! )
Budd Bears BoutiqueDilu:
Interesting topic and one that we do not always think about. We all do speak a little different depending on where you are from. EH! Yep, I am Canadian, EH!
Posts: 8,574Julia;
Babushka, borscht, ( still need the recipie yum), vodka, and a greeting that I couldn't spell to save my soul.....
Pretty pathetic. Sorry honey, But I think you and our French friends and Japanese friends do an absolutely fantastic job understanding all the different styles of English that we have here.
And Catherine, in Antwerp, is flawless....
No this post was just a little reminder that language has power and is easily misunderstood.
:hug: to everyone
dilu
BEAR ME SHOOTKADilu, my friend! with these two magic words BORCSH & VODKA you can make it over here!!
I'm going to tell you one secret. I have lots of foriegn friends and they are welcome at my house :cake: My dad doesn't speak ANY (well exept Russian, of course ) languages ...BUT..
..good company, vodka, great food and he speaks, he understands, he laughs at FOREIGN jokes, etc.
:hug:
That is what amazes ME!!! who studied and studied, travelled and travelled... 
(Next time, I make borcsh, I'll take pictures to make master-class for you.. )
Julia :hug:
eeeeeeeeeee honestly its these bears of mine sometimes they sneak out when I am not around and decide to see what is happening on TT.
Lynette
Patsy Lake BearsLynette it is the same here ... I have work to do and the bears just jump on here and then thats it I can't get away...... Good topic Dilu ... I know here in Australia they use words that would be offensive in the UK and diffrent words have diffrent meanings.......
DoodlebearsShelli said
Penny mentioned (pre-quitting-attempt!) that she was going out to "have a fag,"
Oh my, I am so used to hearing English folk say this I had never thought about what you American people would think. :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface:
It must be like when you Americans say I smacked him on the F***y (Butt) F****y means something quite different here. gosh now I'm blushing! :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface:
I think I better shut up and read another post.
Redfaced and wishing I haden't started typing ,
Jane :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface: :redface:
Irenours-bearsThank Dilu for this topic , even if it's hard to take care about all of us because there are many different countries here.i'm absolutly sure that nobody here want to offend others people,but because of our differences, we must also try to not be too restrictive and be cool. We, foreigners are learning each day from you. I love to learn english, even jokes, not only the serious parts as grammar or the spelling. I would be glad to have my messages corrected because i know that i do many repeted mistakes, so if some of you are volunteers to help me, thank you in advance for you patience
Baird'sBears Good points, Dilu--these are the sorts of reminders we need from time to time . . .to time!
I suspect that our multi-lingual members are more sophisticated in matters of semantic nuance than we pathetically unilingual North Americans will ever be.
I don't think that I've ever understood a joke in another language, except in classical Greek or Latin, and I've forgotten most of those. Vodka would help!
I've got a delightful Chinese student who roars with laughter at all the jokes in King Lear--would that my born-in-Canada students understood Shakespeare half so well! His dad sent him to me because (as Huyang put it) "nobody knows what to do with a Chinese kid that doesn't do well at math or music"! He wants to be a lawyer, and his subtlety of understanding is extraordinary. He'll be a great one.
I'd certainly want to know if my words had offended someone, but I can't think of any of our active posters who would be likely to question the intent of another. We're more likely to ask for a definition, and then add it to our own vocabularies.
Eileen
Acid Attic BearsI think I won't be shy and I will ask for definition of words I can not understand at all : in fact, I've had a friend who would never understand why I would ask him the meaning of words. When I was asking "What means ---- word---- ?", he would reply "What it means." :wacko:, so I kinda imagine it was maybe rude to ask... That's quite stupid, isn't it :doh: .
Hugs to you all, friends .
(my english skills has improved since I know you ! :hug: :hug: Thanks for that ! :hug: )
BEAR ME SHOOTKAMarion, that is what I was going to say! Mine improved too!!!
and you know another thing....I TYPE FASTER IN ENGLISH THEN IN RUSSIAN.....................
how come is that, I wonder??? 
TT I love you!
Posts: 8,574A ha! A master class in borsch.....yes yess......it was one of my fathers favorite dishes
hugd
dilu
a hungry dilu
