<VV> Languages (no Corvair) - was Video of the 2008 NW Vair Roundup i Boise Idaho!

[Alan and Clare Wesson]

> Boise Idaho!

I once drove through Idaho, and we got lost so we stopped and asked someone 
the way to here.

As I speak a lot of French but not much American, I naturally assumed that, 
being (presumably) a French word, it would be pronounced 'Bwarse', which is 
how it would be in French.

After about 5 minutes, when the guy I had asked understood that I was trying 
to get to 'Boy-zee', he absolutely cracked up with laughter.

The other two experiences I have had with foreign languages in the USA are 
when I asked for a cappuccino in a speakeasy in Chicago, and the waiter 
looked at me and said 'a cup o' WHAT?'

And when I was offered a piece of 'flaming yarn' at a cookout in North 
Carolina, and I politely declined until, about 20 minutes later, I worked 
out that I was being offered 'filet mignon' (it was actually NC barbecue, 
but the guy was telling me that it was a particularly good one and was the 
'filet mignon of barbecue').

I just hope I never have to ask the way to Des Moines, Iowa, because I have 
no chance of pronouncing it in a way that is likely to be understood by 
whomever I ask!

Finally, please don't take too much offence at these stories, which show 
that Americans and foreign (European) languages don't really mix - Brits and 
European languages don't either!

Cheers

Alan