Funny things courtesy of your partner

[Chamy and Gatita 3]

Hey everyone,

I have noticed that there are a lot of things my husband is not familiar with that we would consider basic knowledge or common sense. So i thought it would be fun to hear from others about the funny things their spouses/partners did not know about before coming here. (Of course, if we were in their country, they would be laughing at our gaffes and "silly" questions!) although some of the things my husband didn't know about before coming here are surprising, on the flip side, he is not constrained by convention as much as we are in some ways, which is refreshing!

So here goes!

My Ecuadorean husband was recently cleaning the toilet (yay!) with ..... "Shout!" laundry stain remover (???)

Ok, who's got something funny to add?

[Nagishkaw 510]

When my husband first arrived, I showed him our back yard. He saw a squirrel in the tree behind us and asked me if that squirrel was the neighbour's 'pet'. He had never seen a squirrel before.

[웃 910]

When my husband first arrived, I showed him our back yard. He saw a squirrel in the tree behind us and asked me if that squirrel was the neighbour's 'pet'. He had never seen a squirrel before.

I went to a park/zoo in Mexico and they had raccoons in cages on display

[Chamy and Gatita 3]

Yeah! About the squirrels, for about one year it rocked my husband's world every time he saw a squirrel or deer. And it is still pretty special for him, which still makes me chuckle. :-)

[Nagishkaw 510]

I went to a park/zoo in Mexico and they had raccoons in cages on display

:crying:

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Sometimes this is insulting and we don't want to hear you talk about how dumb we are about American stuff. I'm not trying to make you feel bad but sometimes something YOU found cute and think you should repeat to every Tom, ####### and Harry as a "isn't he so fresh-off-the-boat" thing actually comes of more as a "isn't he just so stupid" comment.

It's not YOUR story to tell so really you never should because it almost always comes off as a type of insult into our intelligence and fun at our expense. It's okay if he says it because, well, it's his story and if he laughs about it it's okay and people will laugh with him.

Just be careful is all I'm saying. When I read the Shout comment in the OP I immediately thought you were saying your husband was a moron for not reading the label... I got a "isn't he so clueless!" vibe. The squirrel comment is understandable because that can never imply stupidity, it's just a difference between countries.

OP I know you were trying to be cute but as someone who's been here for 18 months the jokes about how we are or were so clueless to American life is insulting and seriously gets old VERY quick, especially when you're missing home and the way you feel things SHOULD be.

[Amby 490]

Sometimes this is insulting and we don't want to hear you talk about how dumb we are about American stuff. I'm not trying to make you feel bad but sometimes something YOU found cute and think you should repeat to every Tom, ####### and Harry as a "isn't he so fresh-off-the-boat" thing actually comes of more as a "isn't he just so stupid" comment.

It's not YOUR story to tell so really you never should because it almost always comes off as a type of insult into our intelligence and fun at our expense. It's okay if he says it because, well, it's his story and if he laughs about it it's okay and people will laugh with him.

Just be careful is all I'm saying. When I read the Shout comment in the OP I immediately thought you were saying your husband was a moron for not reading the label... I got a "isn't he so clueless!" vibe. The squirrel comment is understandable because that can never imply stupidity, it's just a difference between countries.

OP I know you were trying to be cute but as someone who's been here for 18 months the jokes about how we are or were so clueless to American life is insulting and seriously gets old VERY quick, especially when you're missing home and the way you feel things SHOULD be.

you get your panties in a wad over everything. lighten up!

[^_^ 5,021]

you get your panties in a wad over everything. lighten up!

[웃 910]

I just got the strangest urge to separate each sentence as a quote

Sometimes this is insulting

and we don't want to hear you talk about how dumb we are about American stuff.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad but sometimes something YOU found cute and think you should repeat to every Tom, ####### and Harry as a "isn't he so fresh-off-the-boat" thing actually comes of more as a "isn't he just so stupid" comment.

It's not YOUR story to tell

It's okay if he says it because, well, it's his story and if he laughs about it it's okay and people will laugh with him.

Just be careful is all I'm saying.

When I read the Shout comment in the OP I immediately thought you were saying your husband was a moron for not reading the label... .

I got a "isn't he so clueless!" vibe.

[TBoneTX 45,328]

Shortly after Mrs. T-B.'s arrival, she was looking through a magazine and saw an ad in which a free pedometer would be sent with any order. "What is this?" she asked, almost laughing. I told her, knowing why she asked... "pedo" is Spanish for "fart." In her mind, it was possible that the meter measured pedos, si man.

More recently, we've had lively discussions about pedodontists.

For interest's sake, "pedo" is a regular fart, "pedito" is a small fart, and "pedote" is a large fart, si man.

[EvilEmmy 1]

I thought i'd add mine though this is from my visit to Randy's

I rarely get confused with stuff he say's so once in a while a thing will confuse us both/

I was doing a ton of washing one day and boy did I have a ####### cleaning the cooker plates (the removable metal squares on the top of the cooker) I guess they protect the flat area. So I trondle in after spending 2 odd hours trying going urgh wheres the wire wool cleaner? He looks at me with a super confused face and I'm going wire wool circles, wire wool brush type things, had to explain saying they are metal scrubbers that come in packs just for cleaning the pans and really cooked on grime. And he went ohh you mean these and pulls a few out of the draw, can't remember what they were called but he also went and got the ones similar to what I get here in the UK without the blue cleaning detergent. I sometimes forget things are called by different names and end up trying to explain what i'm whittering on about.

Another moment was when he asked me to use pinesol on the kitchen floor, I'm stood looking in the cupboard trying to figure out what pinesol is I ended up going uhmmmmmn baby I can't find the pinesol, he walked out and went it's the yellow one (had different name on it to pinesol guess a generic version) I felt so silly but we had a laugh about it. Even for us sometimes we need to clarify or show what we mean.

I'm glad 98% of the time we understand eachother and what things mean but there are moments that make us go HUH? ooooooooooh you mean that or this. I find if I speak fast ( apparently I talk fast sometimes thought I talked slow) that I can confuse.

I'm sure there will be mmore of them moments in the future but I always have a giggle over them.

[Sc0tt28 26]

I thought i'd add mine though this is from my visit to Randy's

I rarely get confused with stuff he say's so once in a while a thing will confuse us both/

I was doing a ton of washing one day and boy did I have a ####### cleaning the cooker plates (the removable metal squares on the top of the cooker) I guess they protect the flat area. So I trondle in after spending 2 odd hours trying going urgh wheres the wire wool cleaner? He looks at me with a super confused face and I'm going wire wool circles, wire wool brush type things, had to explain saying they are metal scrubbers that come in packs just for cleaning the pans and really cooked on grime. And he went ohh you mean these and pulls a few out of the draw, can't remember what they were called but he also went and got the ones similar to what I get here in the UK without the blue cleaning detergent. I sometimes forget things are called by different names and end up trying to explain what i'm whittering on about.

Another moment was when he asked me to use pinesol on the kitchen floor, I'm stood looking in the cupboard trying to figure out what pinesol is I ended up going uhmmmmmn baby I can't find the pinesol, he walked out and went it's the yellow one (had different name on it to pinesol guess a generic version) I felt so silly but we had a laugh about it. Even for us sometimes we need to clarify or show what we mean.

I'm glad 98% of the time we understand eachother and what things mean but there are moments that make us go HUH? ooooooooooh you mean that or this. I find if I speak fast ( apparently I talk fast sometimes thought I talked slow) that I can confuse.

I'm sure there will be mmore of them moments in the future but I always have a giggle over them.

The most popular brand of the "steel wool cleaning pads" are S.O.S. pads (You mentioned you couldn't remember what they were called)

Anyway...the real reason I was replying was because I have noticed with my wife that we can either turn these instances into times to fight about it (it's called "this" not "that") or we can grow together and learn from each other. A few weeks ago I found an earwig crawling across the floor in my bathroom. I remembered that she called them something else once before but I couldn't remember what she had called them, and so I called her in and asked her "what do you call those?". Of course she said "silverfish" (or something like that??) and that was the end of it. Its just little things that make living with a foreigner more of a learning opportunity than a chance to poke fun.

[thongd4me 69]

So far in the year she's been here my wife has never used the gas oven....

until RECENTLY!

From time to time I made frozen pizza there which she likes, but before I do I always

lay a sheet of aluminium foil across the grill to prevent dripping of the cheeze.

One day this month I came home to the house full of smoke. The smoke detectors

were all going full blast and I asked what was up.

She was cooking chicken legs on the gass oven grill without putting anything below

them to prevent the dripping of fat.

Now she knows that a gas STOVE is not a Thai barbecue.

Edited March 17, 2011 by thongd4me

[TBoneTX 45,328]

She should have cooked some earwigs, si man.

Question for the Day: Has anyone EVER used one of those creatures as a wig for an ear, huh man? If so, which ear? Testimonials, please man.

[Amy and Nick 37]

My biggest surprise has always been just how much of a "language" barrier there is between England and America. I think the biggest difference is that in England we are so innundated with American tv series that we pick up and learn the different words used.

Obviously, in America there is not such a large amount of British tv shown, and so many Americans dont have a clue what im on about, and it leads to the insane hand gestures and weird explainations to try and get my point across!

The biggest one that Nick and I manage to turn into full blown conversations over a simple question is a broiler. In England a broiler is a grill. In America a grill is a BBQ. I cant tell you how many times ive told Nick to put some toast under the grill and he looks at me like a mad woman!

For some reason a tough one for Americans to understand coming from me is "Vodka and Coke". I dont think I have ever successfully ordered one myself, instead having to have a friend step in and explain what im on about!

Then there are the usual of trousers/pants, sneakers/trainers...

Apparently we dont speak the same language!