It is not uncommon to face problems when we’re living in a place that speaks a language different from ours. And sometimes, these incidents turn out to be really funny later. Case in point, Dr. Preet Hathi recently shared how a South Indian friend living in North India wanted her house help to get rid of a lizard from her room but couldn’t recall the Hindi word for it.
Just south indian in north India problems!!! 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/0CWXAUxGzJ
— Dr. Preet Hathi (@prthathi) November 19, 2020
Some people thought this was hilarious while others shared their own stories of how they had to look up words in another language to make people understand what they needed.
I had same problem when I needed to tell my maid about ants in Telugu. I had to google it and found ‘cheemalu’, even rat google bhai helped.
— स्वाति స్వాతి (@Swatiisme) November 20, 2020
Thank god, she didn’t say magarmach… followed by a scream of the maid… The forest department would have taken matters in to their own hands. 🤣
— आशुतोष (@ashu_chdry) November 20, 2020
Thank god she was not in Bengal. Cause the North Indian prompt would probably be of no use.
It’s called a tik tiki in Bengali.
— rahul mall 🇮🇳 (@rahulwho_) November 20, 2020
Reminds me of when my wife asked the maid to checknfor makad in the room. In Gujarat makad is bed bugs, in Marathi It means monkey
— The Shah of Blah 🌈 (@mrgnk) November 20, 2020
My Mother once punished my brother for calling me “Magarmach” because she confused it with a much worse Hindi gaali. Usually acronymized as “MC”. 🤣
— Reductio Ad Absurdum (@Sanatanastika) November 20, 2020
Still get confused with dhai, dhed, paune, sava. :/ https://t.co/QDSEX423Mf
— ಹೆಸರು ಬೇಳೆ (@WengerBhakt) November 20, 2020
had this problem in reverse. I had an ant problem in Bangalore and had to google TL it to tamil for my maid at 6 in the morning before work. ‘Erumpu’ did the trick https://t.co/HbAGgQc3U6
— ChelCJ (@CharanjitNayyar) November 20, 2020
A lizard should be called magar-notso-much https://t.co/CBKGyMlN4l
— jaggery uncle (@kreitcher) November 21, 2020
We bengalis call catfish "magurmach" in Bangla. So imagine the horror of any North Indian when l tell them "aaj lunch mein hum 'magurmach' banaya." https://t.co/hdHrVDzBjQ
— MayaB. (@ignisfatuus1110) November 20, 2020
This is such a great idea!
I need to know what lizard is called in ALL languages! https://t.co/471jQhfXEi
— Irreverent Lawyer (@rebelawyer) November 20, 2020
What’s a lizard called in the place you live? Let’s make that list and share it with our friends!