Languages... easily misunderstood
Misunderstanding exists in all languages.
It is a dream that one day we can completely understand each other...
Even if we are a united world, language misunderstanding is still living in our life. Like today, when we talk or write, we usually speak or use the same languages and words, but they may end up in an entirely new meaning of what you've said or written. Misunderstandings come out. Even in the same languages or words, we have different understanding or level of expressions and vocabulary. It is common that a well-educated man dislikes speaking with an illiterate man, but fortunately today's illterate is less. People of different classes or educational grounds find hard to communicate or maybe dislike communicating.
Examples,
One day while my friend walked in the shopping mall, he couldn't find where the toys were. So, he asked a salesclerk, "Can you tell me where the toys are?" The salesclerk said, "Sure. You go down the stairs, and then turn right. You can see it." My friend walked there, saw a women's room and a men's room and he said, "Oh my God." The clerk thought he wanted the toilet. (Victoria)
My teacher told me this joke. She said, "One day a man wanted to park his car. He asked someone, "Can I park here?" The man listening thought he said, "Can I bark here?" because the man's pronunciation wasn't good. However, the man didn't know that, and he said, "This is a free country. You can do anything you want." (Li)
Examples extracted from :
(http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~lfried/writing/misunderstandings.html)
Steven Chan
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