Aug. 6, 2003
Some people are surprised when they hear me speak English without an accent. I blame pop culture icons such as The Simpsons' Apu Nahasapeemawhateverhisnameis for fostering the image that all brown people talk funny.
All of my relatives speak English, some with more success than others. But sometimes there are words or phrases that get mutilated and twisted around. My aunt used to call a hamburger a "beefburger." My cousin goes to CVS to develop his "filim." My mother still thinks we live off Zerusalem Avenue (it's Jerusalem Avenue) and go to the "yairport" to catch a flight. I'll admit, some of those are cause for laughter.
While minor gaffes don't harm anyone, there are times when they don't help. Many times we've gotten calls from excited family members in Bangladesh telling us they're coming into New York Airport. Ever heard of New York Airport? Neither have I. At least once a year I have to trek down to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to pick up my hapless relatives who didn't realize that Newark and New York aren't the same thing. I'm sure the "Liberty" part of the title just adds to the confusion with its Statue of Liberty association. It's not too big an inconvenience, but imagine if Newark was in Alaska. I love my family, but I'm not driving to Alaska to pick them up.
Sometimes the language barrier leaves people open to cheats.
Years ago my dad's friend, fresh from Bangladesh where Toyota and Mercedes are king (I can't figure that one out), was shopping for his first car. Knowing nothing about cars, he picked one name he heard good things about, Honda, and latched on to it. He walked into the car dealership. He walked out with a new Sonata. Everything is well and good.
Except the Sonata is not a Honda, it's a Hyundai.
Of course he didn't know that, and he walked out of the dealership thinking he had a Honda. It wasn't until later he found out Honda and Hyundai were two distinct companies. The salesman cleverly told him there were no Accords available on the lot (I guess it wasn't an outright lie) but he could get a "better" car, the Sonata. My dad's friend thought he was pronouncing Honda wrong and never questioned why the salesman kept calling it a Hyundai.
Well, at least he was happy with the car. It gets him to the yairport and back just fine.
The genXchange column appears every other Wednesday. Today's writer is Wasim Ahmad, a reporter for the Press & Sun-Bulletin. E-mail him at wahmad@pressconnects.com.
© 2003 Press & Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, N.Y.