The other day, I was talking to a friend about how, to the chagrin of many Thai and Lao parents, the auspicious name of a temple was being made fun of by their American-born children.
The name? Wat Phu Sri.
We proceeded to have a good laugh over how Thais can’t understand why Americans would ever want to be named “Dick,” while Americans can’t imagine why Thais would want to be named “Jim,” since both names denote genitalia in English and Thai, respectively.
We spoke about whether or not it was actually funny. In one language, it is a normal or even auspicious name, while in another it is a perverted and embarrassing word. As we discussed whether or not Americans named Dick should be embarrassed or whether Thais were ridiculous for carrying their perceptions into America, our conversation led to who we should believe. Who was right?
My friend suggested that the native should always be trusted, because after all, their language was the language of the land. I asked her whether or not that was always the case. We could both readily think of cases in which natives were correct and transplants were wrong in their usage of the native’s language. But can you always trust the person who grew up with that language?
On countless occasions, my mom has used words in English that I felt she had either pronounced incorrectly or weren’t words at all. After laughing at my mom’s accent and trying to correct her, it would be revealed that it was a technical term that she had used in one of her past jobs. I think that makes it so the joke is on me.
Another time, I was talking to two people who grew up in Khon Kaen, where my mom’s family is from. In that northeastern part of Thailand, people mostly speak Thai and/or a dialect of Laotian called Isaan. I was speaking broken Isaan with these two people and I had used a word that they told me was incorrect. I thought, yeah, I probably just pronounced it wrong, because this wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve jumbled up different languages. The two of them laughed at me, as they were sure that the word didn’t exist, in any possible intonation or accent. We walked over to my mom and aunt, who confirmed that I had used the word correctly. How could be possible that a native English speaker knew more native Isaan than two native Isaan speakers?
As with anything that we contemplate, there are cases in which what we expect is true, and cases in which the entire opposite is true. So laugh, but don’t forget that humor is only relative. Today you’re laughing at someone, another day you may find yourself being laughed at. If you laugh and feel superior, certain that you are correct, then you have some reevaluating to do!
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