To activate my credit card recently, I had to press '1' for English. And you know what? It was really easy. Bink! Done! No big deal at all.
Unlike those who complain about such things, I am pleased that businesses are willing to help my friends who don't speak English well to clearly understand business and financial transactions. It doesn't mean my friends aren't willing to learn and speak English to the best of their ability. It just means that many subtleties of the English language escape them, and when it comes to doing business, clarity can be very important to all involved.
English is a difficult and sometimes funny language. People who have spoken nothing else their entire lives still often fail to speak correctly (another post for another day). I can't take credit for the following - I copied these from the internet. You've seen similar lists, I'm sure.
Need I continue?
(Presented in the hope that Americans really are kinder, more helpful, and more understanding than they sometimes sound.)![]()
Unlike those who complain about such things, I am pleased that businesses are willing to help my friends who don't speak English well to clearly understand business and financial transactions. It doesn't mean my friends aren't willing to learn and speak English to the best of their ability. It just means that many subtleties of the English language escape them, and when it comes to doing business, clarity can be very important to all involved.
English is a difficult and sometimes funny language. People who have spoken nothing else their entire lives still often fail to speak correctly (another post for another day). I can't take credit for the following - I copied these from the internet. You've seen similar lists, I'm sure.
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And how is it that people recite at a play and play at a recital.
You can be given a number of injections to make the pain number.
You can ship by truck and send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
When the stars are out, they are visible. When the lights are out, they are invisible.
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
The wind can be too strong to wind the sail.
There is no time like the present to present you with this present.
How can 'A Slim Chance' and 'A Fat Chance' be the same?
How can 'You're so cool' and 'You're not so hot' be different?
Why are 'A Wise man' and 'A Wise guy' opposites?
What if a seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
The bandage is wound around a wound.
I do not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
Boxing rings are square.
A soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
A farm is used to produce produce.
Need I continue?
(Presented in the hope that Americans really are kinder, more helpful, and more understanding than they sometimes sound.)
