A chuckle is quite close to a smile, and I think it is better than a frown because of displeasure.
I find Malaysians are segmented in terms of language. There are those of all races who speak English at home but not their own mother tongues. Then there are those who speak Malay, Mandarin or dialects, Tamil, and so on, but uncomfortable with English. But most can understand English or Malay, even though not fluent in speaking the language. So it is common to speak, say English to someone, who would reply in Malay. This reminds me of Empat Sekawan which started years ago, as a radio or Redifusion comedy and went on to television shows, starring Hai Yang, Hon Ying, Lai Meng and Wong Ho. Each will speak his or her dialect and the others will reply in his or her own.
Many people are able to spot mistakes in translated subtitles, eg. from English to Bahasa Malaysia. Off hand, I can remember classic ones: 'Fire!' (as in using guns) which was translated to 'Api!' (which means fire, as in the burning kind). Then, 'Have you lost your marbles?' (as in 'are you crazy?' which was translated literally to, 'Kau dah hilang guli ke?' Some incorrect translations involve numbers. For example, in Cantonese, 'yat marn' means '10,000'; 'sarp marn' means '100,000'; 'yat park marn' means '1,000,000'. Often, 'yat marn' was translated to mean '1 million'.
For those who know a bit more English, they are able to spot mistakes in pronunciation. For example, some retired teachers still pronounce 'facade' as it is spelled and not 'fersard'. Another difficult word of French origin, bour·geoi·sie. noun \ˌbu̇(r)zh-ˌwä-ˈzē\ is often pronounced as 'bugis'! Some made deliberate mistakes for fun, like 'barbress' for lady barbers or better known as hair stylists. Perhaps, it adds colour to our cosmopolitan society to make it more interesting. Why not?
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