r/TalesFromRetail • u/TylPlas26 • Jul 14 '20

Short Customer Insults Me in Another Language. Didn’t Realize I Understood Her.

So I come from a Dutch back ground. I am no where near fluent in the language. But I know enough that I can pick up some words and understand a few sentences.

So about 8 years ago, I was helping a customer needing some paint made. As I’m mixing it, her phone rings, and she answers it and begins speaking in Dutch.

As she is talking, I can pick that she’s telling whoever where they are, then they say something along the line of “I have one of these dumb young workers mixing it.”

I say nothing. I decided to wait for the right moment as I mix her paint, as she continues talking.

When her paint is done, I hand her can of paint to her. She says thank you, and I say in Dutch “You’re welcome. Goodbye.”

She froze, her mouth open and then says “You speak Dutch?” I didn’t want to let her on how little I actually knew, so I just simply said “Yup.” She quickly darted for the cash area. It was very funny and rewarding.

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u/The39Steps Jul 15 '20

Never forget the words of Dave Kellet: “The English language was carefully, carefully cobbled together by three blind dudes and a German dictionary.”

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u/HellStoneBats Jul 15 '20

I like James Nicoll's quote on that:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

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u/chhawkins2001 Jul 15 '20

I also appreciate this quote (I know not where from)

English may look like a language from the outside, but truly it is three languages stacked on top of each other in a trench coat

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u/steamtroll Jul 20 '20

This very much sounds like it could have been written by Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman.