What's the funniest misunderstanding you've encountered while speaking English?
11 answers from our tutors
Best answer
I used to pronounce eat and it the same. But now I don't do this mistake.
One student told me that he liked to go down to the beach every day after work to relieve himself, which means he liked to go down to the beach to go to the toilet. What he actually meant was he like to go down to the beach every day after work to relax!
DISCLAIMER! I don't mean anything bad neither I want to curse. I got confuse one day and I said my best friend instead of a cunt, a cult. Lol I hope one curse word won't be a problem for the app...😂😂😂
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Soiled. Usually used to be polite, instead of saying someone messed themselves up. If you know what I mean. 😋
I was discussing an essay with a Korean student and mentioned that I hoped his grammar would get better when he asked me how I knew that his grandma had being unwell. The gears in my head spun for a moment or two then I realised what he said and laughed. I explained to the dear boy that I meant English "GRAMMAR", not his "GRANDMA", we both laughed. Grandma made a full recovery.
A time when I visited Amsterdam and I had a conversation with a stranger. They ended the sentence with "hoor" - this is a common thing Dutch people do, however, in English it sounds exactly like the word "whore" and it led to a funny conversation... Dutch is one of the languages I can speak a bit of.
At times , tongue twisters were difficult for me and during reading or describing in my student life , I tried somehow cover my this weakness that I have get rid now. Thanks to Almighty.
Once I was describing some characteristics of one of my respected teacher and used the pronoun they for his respect , might be under pressure of situation. At that moment the whole class cheered up and I realized my mistake instantly.
When I was young I often spoke delicated (wrongly) instead of dedicated then a day I was pointed out by my class fellow that was actually funniest and unbelievable situation for me.
There are so many words that sounds the same. So, I say maybe but I like to verify that I said that because I don't want people to think I said baby instead. Lol.
- StephanCertified TEFL and ESL Teacher
I once found myself in a akward and funny situation when foreign travelers asked me for help and directions. Being in a situation where I had to give directions and despritions in English to non-Engslish speakers with a South African accent led to the most akward silence best described as a typical movie moment. Luckily it ended with everyone laughing once we started using Google Translate and we finally had a means of communication.
