Po-tay-to, Po-taa-to
I have found myself in confusing situations many times since I came here - all my own doing of course, because of the language I speak.
Now, I do speak English, and so do Canadians, but it all boils down to slang. I was brought up in an education system that taught us British English, whereas Canadians speak Canadian English (which is a mixture of sorts of American and British English - seeing as they are next to America and used to be a British colony... I get the identity dilemma here).
Anyway, here are some entertaining words that work differently here than what I knew growing up:
Let me tell you guys an example of a time I confused people around me with my different way of speaking.
So it's the middle of the work day, and I get a phone call from my boss who wants to know where I am. I was waiting for the lift/elevator on our office floor and she was waiting for me on the ground floor. Anyway this is how it went:
Boss: Hi Husena, where are you?
Me: I'm waiting for the lift.
Boss: Where are you going? We're supposed to meet right now.
Me: Yeah I know, that's why I'm waiting for the lift.
Boss: But where are you going?
Me: What do you mean??? I'm going to come down.
Boss: What do you mean??????
Me: I'm waiting for the lift so that I can take it down to the ground floor to meet you?!
Boss: OHHH. You mean the elevator!! This whole time I thought you were talking about Lyft!!!
Lyft is an app like Grab or Uber here in Canada. My wonderful boss thought I called a cab in the middle of the work day and was leaving for no apparent reason.
It'll take a few more years, but I'm certain eventually it will be the other way around and I'll be confusing people in Singapore whenever I go visit. Apologies in advance to people I encounter in both countries - I am myself currently in a major identity crisis it seems!
Now, I do speak English, and so do Canadians, but it all boils down to slang. I was brought up in an education system that taught us British English, whereas Canadians speak Canadian English (which is a mixture of sorts of American and British English - seeing as they are next to America and used to be a British colony... I get the identity dilemma here).
Anyway, here are some entertaining words that work differently here than what I knew growing up:
Singaporean Way Canadian Way
Brinjal Eggplant
Bathroom Washroom
Beanie Tuque
Lift Elevator
Sport shoes Runners
Soft drinks Pop
Carpark Parking lot
Let me tell you guys an example of a time I confused people around me with my different way of speaking.
So it's the middle of the work day, and I get a phone call from my boss who wants to know where I am. I was waiting for the lift/elevator on our office floor and she was waiting for me on the ground floor. Anyway this is how it went:
Boss: Hi Husena, where are you?
Me: I'm waiting for the lift.
Boss: Where are you going? We're supposed to meet right now.
Me: Yeah I know, that's why I'm waiting for the lift.
Boss: But where are you going?
Me: What do you mean??? I'm going to come down.
Boss: What do you mean??????
Me: I'm waiting for the lift so that I can take it down to the ground floor to meet you?!
Boss: OHHH. You mean the elevator!! This whole time I thought you were talking about Lyft!!!
Lyft is an app like Grab or Uber here in Canada. My wonderful boss thought I called a cab in the middle of the work day and was leaving for no apparent reason.
It'll take a few more years, but I'm certain eventually it will be the other way around and I'll be confusing people in Singapore whenever I go visit. Apologies in advance to people I encounter in both countries - I am myself currently in a major identity crisis it seems!
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