Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Foot in the mouth

Son brought his girlfriend to meet his parents.

After the initial greetings and pleasantries, they settled down to conversation and getting to know each other.

Father asked the girl, “What does your father do?”

Girl: “chou teen” in Cantonese (meaning to do with electricity)

Father thought she meant he works as an electrician, thinking along the lines of installing light fittings and general electrical repairs, commented: “kei hou keh, wan tou leong charn” (literally meaning “quite good really, can earn two meals a day”).

As preparations for the wedding started, the father began to feel more and more uncomfortable and embarrassed as a result of his earlier comment, as events unfolded.

The bridal car used was their own BMW, wedding dinner given by the bride’s family was held in a restaurant within a hotel and they live in a three-level mansion with a putting green!

Moral of the story: just like guessing the age of a woman (better to understate), it is better to assume someone is doing better than what you think he is.

2 comments:

  1. If your father is a poor man, it is your fate.
    If your father-in-law is a poor man, it is your stupidity.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak.

    ReplyDelete