Cao Ni Ma

D and I spent all morning eating a slow breakfast on the nice warm patio reading books together. I had grabbed a book about Tierra del Fuego for D to read, but he already had a book he was trying to finish, so it sat on the table forlornly. Eventually, our roommate Yves came and joined us for breakfast, so I offered him the book to read. Yves said earlier in the week that he wants to learn 3 new English words a day.

So I said, "Here, read this, you'll learn all kinds of new words. Like llama!"

Yves: "Llama? What's that?"

me: "Well, it's like a deer, only wooly like a sheep, with a long neck like a giraffe, and a face like a camel."

Yves: ".........What." *pulls out iPhone and googles llama*
 "OH, I know the word for these in Chinese, people post funny pictures of them on the internet........"

me: "Omigosh, please teach me the Chinese word for llama!!!!!"

Yves: "............. *blushes* It's actually pronounced the same as a very rude word."

me: "OMIGOSH DO YOU PROMISE?!?!" :D


I thus promptly spent the rest of the day repeating the word for "llama" AND "f*** your mother" in Mandarin over and over to be sure I won't ever forget. <3