Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Sawing Your Neck
In Tamil, anyone who is boring you in any way is said to be "sawing your neck." Sometimes it's just called "sawing," or "rumbum". Tonight someone sawed both my and Gandhirajan's necks. It was over dinner.
The man invited me for sawing again (but not Gandhirajan). He asked me to stay a week longer for further sawing.
It made me feel very sawed.
Afterward, Gandhirajan asked me what this man did for a living. I said he traded stocks. Gandhirajan said what. I said he traded stocks. Gandhirajan said oh. I said, do you understand? He said, "unh" which is Tamil for yes, but he said it in a way that I knew meant he didn't know what I'd said. This happens sometimes. I asked him what I'd said. He said, "He trains dogs." This is understandable because the o in "dogs" is pronounced more like the o in cops. And the g has a kind of k sound.
The man invited me for sawing again (but not Gandhirajan). He asked me to stay a week longer for further sawing.
It made me feel very sawed.
Afterward, Gandhirajan asked me what this man did for a living. I said he traded stocks. Gandhirajan said what. I said he traded stocks. Gandhirajan said oh. I said, do you understand? He said, "unh" which is Tamil for yes, but he said it in a way that I knew meant he didn't know what I'd said. This happens sometimes. I asked him what I'd said. He said, "He trains dogs." This is understandable because the o in "dogs" is pronounced more like the o in cops. And the g has a kind of k sound.
