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'Scuse Me While I.........

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I once read a story about the late Jimi Hendrix, rock guitarist and vocalist. It seems that he had a song with a line in it that said 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky.....' I don't recall the name of the song, nor can I provide a link to the performance of it....my profuse apologies! Anyway, if I let you click on a link and get away from me, you may never come back.....lost in a Hendrix haze....

Where were we? Oh, yes! Jimi Hendrix. Right....well the story is that lots of his fans thought that the line was 'Scuse me while I kiss this guy....' Now, Hendrix, apparently, was highly amused by this mistake. Thereafter, whenever he performed this song live, he made a point of kissing the nearest 'guy'. In jest, of course! Probably his drummer or bassist or whoever....

I'm not surprised people made that mistake as the words of songs often blend into each other. Personally, and I do apologise to any hardcore Hendrix fans who may be reading, I've never been able to make any sense at all of any Hendrix track I've ever heard! It all just sounds to me like someone going berserk! And believe me, I do enjoy my rock music! In my youth, I attended many a rock concert and headbanged along with the best of them, long hair, denim jacket, yeah! The whole look and everything!

What do you do when two languages clash? The misunderstandings can be comical. Take this evening for example. Neil, my son, aged 14, came in and told me that there was a 'guy' at the gate who wanted a piece of bread. I thought it was a beggar. Then it struck me as a little odd, and then I realised that it is quite unlike Neil to handle callers to the gate by himself. He usually calls me or one of his grandparents. I decided to check things out. The 'guy' turned out to be a 'gai'. 'Gai' is the Hindi word for 'cow'. It was a stray cow had wandered over to our gate and was standing outside hopefully waiting for a bit to eat. Why did I misunderstand? Well I was reading a lot of posts on English blogs about Guy Fawkes lately, given the current season..

'Scuse me while I.....
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Comments

  1. Grannymar9 November 2009 at 02:19

    Great story and I can read it clearly now! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. ... daisy...9 November 2009 at 02:43

    :-D This is really funny!
    I know something about language misunderstandings... I live in a place where Italian and German are the official languages, but they're mixed up with so many slang words...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Judy Harper9 November 2009 at 07:34

    Do you celebrate Guy Fawkes night? I found the verse below on a website.

    Remember, remember the Fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot.

    I see no reason why gunpowder treason, Should ever be forgot …"

    Did you ever hear it before? I'm like Grannymar, I can read your post now. Thanks! Did you give the cow any bread? See you Tuesday for our Tuesday Morning Writing. I think we're going to have a new person joining us. Good post by the way! I've done that before, except it was a name.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Henrietta9 November 2009 at 09:41

    Your new blog background looks nice! I love the green :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cheerful Monk9 November 2009 at 12:10

    I'm afraid I have trouble with your new color scheme. I've been plagued with eyestrain all of my life and have trouble reading light-colored text on a dark background. Your posts used to be so easy to read. (:

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ursula9 November 2009 at 12:19

    Gaelikaa, the song is "Purple Haze", to be found on
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hSW67ySCio

    As to kissing guys kissing guys: Italians do it with abandon, gays do it with relish, even Russian presidents have been known to plant a smacker. If I were a man I'd do it too. As it is I do it anyway. Gaelikaa if you can't follow me any longer think yourself caught in a Hendrix song.

    Yes, language - joys of. Can't wait to tell my gay friends that in Hindi they'd all be classified as cows.

    U

    ReplyDelete
  7. vandana9 November 2009 at 17:34

    Absolutely loved this post ..

    There was one this afternoon lunch time in office ..

    I am looking for a creche for my baby for sometime..

    So one friend asks ..'got a creche ?'

    Another one in shock asks 'why crutch'

    Then I had to explain its creche not crutch ..and finally we had a nice laugh !!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ayak10 November 2009 at 06:37

    Funny story Gael!
    I like your new blog layout. Actually I found it difficult to post replies on the previous one...this one is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  9. gaelikaa11 November 2009 at 10:54

    Marie - glad you can see it now.

    daisy - I bet you have some stories on this.

    Judy - no Guy Fawkes here, it is a peculiarly English festival, that one!

    Henrietta - had to change the layout again, I'm in a transition stage.

    Jean - hope you can read me now!

    Ursula - I've just emerged from a purple haze, thanks for the link! Funny what maturity does to you! Or maybe it's just age - Hendrix, strangely, is making sense now.

    Vandana - good story! We all have them.

    Ayak - Glad my comment section is working okay now!

    ReplyDelete

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