Friday 17 August 2007

ABC's in Taiwan

The other day, a coworker called me asking how to spell a word in English. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it involved a "d" in it. For the sake of discussion, let's say that word was "fade."

Coworker (C): hi, sorry, Michella, how do you spell "fade"?
Michella (M): oh no problem, it's f-a-d-e.
C: es? efu? efu? es?
M: no no, it's f, not s.
C: what? s?
M: no, EFU
apparently, "f" is hard for them to pick up and to say, so you have to give them an "efu" instead of an "f"
C: oh oh ok, thanks. efu-a-d, d? t? which one?
M: d, like dog
C: what d? di as in pig?
M: no, not p, it's d as in dog
C: oh, I get it, it's d as in pig
M: no no no
as this point, my cameraman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and told me she got it and to say yes and hang up

He explained to me that in high school in Taiwan, they say d as in pig, because pig in Taiwanese is pronounced "di" 豬. Once I got it, I was laughing so hard our driver almost had to pull over.

So here in Taiwan, we say "d" as in "pig."

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