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It took place on the first morning after i had set foot on Canadian soil. I had reached Canada in the evening and was put up in a hotel near the university guesthouse that was booked by my post-doc supervisor. I was too jet lagged to have dinner or do anything else that evening and so did not venture out till next morning. The next morning however, I was hungry enough to go looking for breakfast and found a food court below one of the student residences called the HUB mall.
Being on a tight budget and ever mindful of the conversion rate of 1CAD=Rs. 29 (at that time), I was looking for the cheapest option. I found a coffee kiosk which was selling something called a bagel (a donut shaped bread) with cream cheese for a bit less than $2, the cheapest thing available.
The problem was that I had never heard of a bagel before then and when I asked for it I confidently pronounced it as "badge-el" having no idea that it was actually pronounced "bay-gail" and quite popular in Canada. The salesman, most likely a student working part-time in the coffee shop, had initially no idea what I was asking for, but guessed quickly enough and saved me from having to order a more well-known but expensive option called a sandwich. I guess he was quite used to people from different parts of the world turning up with their quirky pronunciations. Later, one of my Canadian friends started calling it badge-el as well in my honour whenever I was around :)
best regards
...Posted by Ishani
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Dear Sir,
Your blogpost "funnelmelody" reminded me of my amusing misadventure with wrong pronunciation.
Your blogpost "funnelmelody" reminded me of my amusing misadventure with wrong pronunciation.
It took place on the first morning after i had set foot on Canadian soil. I had reached Canada in the evening and was put up in a hotel near the university guesthouse that was booked by my post-doc supervisor. I was too jet lagged to have dinner or do anything else that evening and so did not venture out till next morning. The next morning however, I was hungry enough to go looking for breakfast and found a food court below one of the student residences called the HUB mall.
Being on a tight budget and ever mindful of the conversion rate of 1CAD=Rs. 29 (at that time), I was looking for the cheapest option. I found a coffee kiosk which was selling something called a bagel (a donut shaped bread) with cream cheese for a bit less than $2, the cheapest thing available.
The problem was that I had never heard of a bagel before then and when I asked for it I confidently pronounced it as "badge-el" having no idea that it was actually pronounced "bay-gail" and quite popular in Canada. The salesman, most likely a student working part-time in the coffee shop, had initially no idea what I was asking for, but guessed quickly enough and saved me from having to order a more well-known but expensive option called a sandwich. I guess he was quite used to people from different parts of the world turning up with their quirky pronunciations. Later, one of my Canadian friends started calling it badge-el as well in my honour whenever I was around :)
best regards
Supratim
...Posted by Ishani
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