I've been avoiding this one, because my Afrikaner friends are going to kill me, but after yesterday I just have to tell you!
The letter "i" in Afrikaans is pronounced "uh", as best as my American ear can discern. So when Afrikaners speak English, they use the same sound. "Fill" becomes "full", "girl" becomes "gull", etc.
If we eat out at a restaurant, at the end of the meal Dan will ask for the bill (they never just bring it to you). Every time he says, "May I have the bill?", the waiter answers, "The bull?" I stifle a giggle while Dan manages to say "Yes, the bull."
Yesterday we passed some cattle on the road. Our son Benjamin shouted out, "Look Mommy! I just saw a bull! You know, not the kind of bull you get at a restaurant. The kind that lives on a farm and eats grass."
I don't know how I'll ever be able to face my Afrikaner friends again when it's time to pay the "bull"... I can't laugh hysterically, because they could just as easily laugh at me (and sometimes they do). I think I'll go now, and work on my poker face.
2 comments:
I liked the Netherlands because they call the bill at a restaurant 'de rekening'. It always sounded so ominous!
I liked Germany because, when calculating the tip, all one did was round up the amount of the bill to the nearest 5 DM increment, which was much easier (and cheaper) than 15%...
Love,
Rosie
Hi...I don't think all Saffas pronounce it like that, as I'm a Saffa...nor I or anyone I know pronounce it like that.. ;)
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