Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Language Faux Pas

So i'm at the gym the other day when the kickboxing trainer walks in (I just started lessons). I say to him "Yes kez ktsetsem vagha" which means I will beat you up tomorrow. Unfortunately, I pronounced it incorrectly and said "Yes kez ktstsem vagha" which means I will suck you tomorrow. Of course, fate wouldn't have it any other way. He said "eench?" (what?) So, I say it louder twice more...in the gym...with several other armenians around. Oops. Can you imagine the looks I got from them? Finally, he tells me what I'm actually saying. How embarrassing. It sounded the same to me at the time... k-tseh-tsem vs. k-tsuh-tsem. I decided to just stop saying 'to beat' all together and go with "Yes kez kspanem" which means I will kill you. :)

tsetsel - to beat up

tstsel - to suck

spanel - to kill