Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Excused

In Hebrew, they have the same word for 'sorry' and 'excuse me'. Example, if you sneeze in public you may say sli'kha and when you want to alight from a crowded elevator you say sli'kha again.

Now, the converse just isn't true which leads to this enjoyable situation (I have been part of it a couple of times already):
You order pizza and are requested to take a seat while pizza is getting ready. Invariably, once the order is ready, you can hear the waitress shout out "Sorry!" At this time, you are supposed to translate it as "excuse me" and pick up your order at the counter!

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