The other day at work, two tall business men walked in and came to the cashier (my most recent position until further notice). I asked them how their day was going, blablabla, they placed their order and the conversation goes like this, between me and the tallest dude:
Me: Is it to stay or to go?
Him looking and sounding condescendent: "To staaayy?"
Me scared: Yes... as in, are you eating here or would you like your order in a to-go box?
Him still condescendent: Did you say "to stay"? What does that mean?
Me thinking 'are you serious?!: It means "for here", to eat at the restaurant...
Him interrompts me and moves his chin up: Where are you from?
Me getting p.o'd and starting to show: Brazil
Him: Ah that's why! I've never heard "to stay" before.
Me definitely showing p.o'd: Well I have, and as a matter of fact, YOU Americans taught me to say "to stay". Everyone here says it and that is why I say it. So, anyway, is your order TO STAY or to go?
He ordered "to stay."
I spent the ENTIRE day wanting to throw his order on his FACE!
AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
Anyway, my fellow Americans, second owners of this beautiful language...
Grammatically speaking, is it WRONG to say "to stay"? I asked the people I work with and my family here, they said "it's fine", but what does "fine" mean? Does it mean it's correct or just understandable? I hear the American workers use that expression all.the.time.
On another note, Mr IamthetallestbusinessmanandthinkIcanhumilliateforeignersinfrontofotherbusinessmanlikeme Dude, next time you come in, I'll be happy to place your order... TO STAY! :P
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And for your enjoyment and delight, pictures of me taken TODAY :
Some people were wanting to see the baby bump, but I don't think I have one yet. Do I? You tell me!
And yes, my hair is darker.
I don't think baby likes it when I lay on my side. I feel stabbing pains around my belly-button... Or is this gas???
Survey: how many weeks were you, moms, when you found out the sex of your baby?
18 comments:
Hey! Well first of all your story with that tall dude was so fun! Stupid guy!:) I can't tell you if it's right or not saying "to stay" but i know when someone asked me i understood what it meant!
secondly: I think you don't have a baby bump YET but you will have it soon. About the sex of the baby... i was 20weeks far with my both kids when we found out.
How many weeks are you?
Uh, yeah, that guy was dumb. Has he never been to McDonalds? He's a snob. To stay is fine. And that means that everyone says it, although I can't really say if it's grammatically correct. You could call it a colloquialism, but that is quite a mouthful even for us "native Americans." (Just call me Pocahontas! That was cute!)
I never understood people who don't like foreigners and accents. They're cute and fun and refreshing. I mean, didn't you think I was cute (bat my eyes) when I spoke portugues? Of course one Brasileira companion of mine made fun of my T's constantly. She said I said "ch" which is totally true. I guess I said "chubo" when we were going to catch the bus.
I digress...
I don't think you have a baby bump. You probably won't for a while. I finally couldn't wear my regular pants when I was about 20 weeks, but I looked totally stupid in my smallest maternity clothes. Like I was just pretending to be pregnant. But my regular pants hurt my stomach and made me feel sick. I wore my smallest of maternity clothes to my 20 week ultrasound with Jared. Of course, we didn't find out he was a boy until 41 weeks :)
With Zach, I showed a lot earlier and looked about 6 months pregnant at 20 weeks (4.5 months). That's when we found out he'd be a boy.
My SIL just found out at 21 weeks that she's having a girl. She was supposed to find out last week, but had to reschedule.
You need to find one of those tickers to put on the blog so we can keep track of how far along you are. And you can make a poll so we can vote for what we think you're having!
Hi Kika,
English is not my mother tongue either, but so far I haven't had anyone acting condescending on me like that. He sounds like such a loser. Actually, people like us have the upper hand because we know at least one other language
:-D .
Are you pregnant? Sorry I haven't been online for a while. Congratulations. I thought you were showing off a slimmer figure so got shocked when you spoke about baby bump! There is no baby bump on you yet!
BTW I got to know I'm pregnant right away :-P . My monthly cycle is like clockwork I can actually tell the date of my next period with 95% accuracy. So when date came and went and no period, voila! I knew it, dilly-dallied for about a week, finally got tested and yeah! Two weeks pregnant!
Kika... que eu saiba, pode-se falar TO Stay sim. Acho que a maneira mais correta seria dizer For here, mas como a outra opcao 'e To Go, da certo. Outra coisa tambem 'e que, e essa parte eu nao sei explicar diretio, sabe como 'e, acabei nunca terminando meu curso de English Language ai na BYU, entao so sei as coisas pela metade. Mas entao... o verbo ta conjugado certo, mas tambem o "to go" e o "to stay" nesse caso sao mais como substantivos e nao verbos. Enfim... Eis ai a minha explicacao... como a guria a cima disse, obviamente o cara nunca foi ao McDonalds. Se esta realmente certo ou nao, nao tenho certeza absoluta, mas tem muita coisa em ingles que as pessoas falam EXTREMAMENTE errado, mas 'e socially acceptable sabe?
mas ;e isso. ja falei demais, e eu ja nao to mais me entendendo! hahaha
bjos!
teu baby bump ta lindo!
ah! quanto ao ultrassom... aquele lugar la o Fetal Photos, eles fazem bem cedo. Nem 'e tao caro. A Aline fez la e descobriu com 16 semanas se eu nao me engano. Tenho amigos que decobriram com 13 semanas. Se for menino, da pra ver direitinho ja com umas 13-14 semanas. o site 'e: http://www.fetalfotosusa.com/ tem um ai em Utah, nem 'e tao longe de provo. Se for esperar a consulta prenatal do medico mesmo, eles so fazem com 20 semanas.
bjos!
As an American, I have no idea how you would not understand what it means if someone at a restaurant asks if you want your food to stay or to go. It is a perfectly grammatical way of asking someone where they want there food. I think his answer was clear that he wanted his food in his face. ;)
And I second the ticker idea, just go to lilypie.com and create a countdown to when baby comes!
The standard time to find out the baby's gender is 20 weeks. But I have known some doctors offices that can/will tell you earlier! I didn't find out with Quincey, but with Maiya I was 20 weeks.
And, no you don't have a baby bump yet... you look great! I like the hair color too.
Weird that he made a big deal about that! It's totally normal. Maybe try "for here or to go?"
I found out my baby's gender at 20 weeks with the ultrasound. How many weeks are you?? I'm excited for you! We still need to get together!!!!!
Bjos
Stupid guy. As another brown chick I can totally sympathize with people being COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FREAKING STUPID just because you're not as white as a sheet. Pssh.
Anyways, I've got some "business" to talk with you about (good business) but it will take too long here. Can I email you? Or you can email me since I don't have your email. natasha.515 at gmail dot com
Te achei Kika!!!
Adorei a fotinho nova! Menina ta comecando aparecer... :) Passa rapido neh? Vc ja vai fazer 4 meses neh? pense ja to quase entrando no sexto mes acredita? Te add no meu blog tambem! Temos que combinar algo hein?!
Bjokas
Yeah, I totally sympathize with the ignorant people when you're speaking a language that isn't your native toungue...it used to tick me off big time!!! No, you don't have a bump yet, but believe me, you will!!! (c: I found out the gender with Caden at 20 weeks and with this one it was at 18 (of course that was because I waited until then for my first doctor's appointment, whoops!)....
As a dude married to a brown chick, by the tall man's standards I would probably also be from Brasil, since I would say "to stay."
It is extremely dangerous to mock those that serve your food. Methinks the tall man is not street smart.
Morri de rir com o teu post! =)Que carinha chato esse heim? Onde vc trabalha, Kika? Acho teu ingles perfeito. Sou ainda insegura qt ao meu.
Sim... eu perguntei pro Dave e ele disse q eh mais comum dizer "for here" mas q da outra forma tá ok tb.
Eu consegui ver o sexo dos meus babies com 16 semanas. E com relação a barriguinha aparecer, se vc for como eu a minha só apareceu com quase 6 meses de gravidez. De uma ora pra outra... PUM!! tava lá. kkkkkk Bjao minha linda!
kika, eu descobri q Rachel era Rachel (hihihi) com 19 semanas. E isso q tu ta sentindo pode ser o bebe sim porque era o mesmo q eu sentia. Parece uns gases neh?? heheheh. Mas dai eu nao tava com vontade de fazer o numero 2 entao conclui q era o bebe..e sempre sentia..entao ERA o bebe mesmo.
bjooo
Sometimes people just time to mess with you because you are a foreigner!
Hi Kika!!!
I try to learn more english with you and your friends there...
You look so pretty with a medium belly, I think will be a big belly soon, ehehe
have a nice weekend
you look as cute as ever and no baby bump that i can see. just wait though :)
Stupid head guy. You're just fine when you say "to stay". I hear it all the time. Good for you for telling him that too.
As for the gender thing, I was around 20 wks w/all three of my pgs. In oklahoma, it's common to get u/s and gender predictions as early as 17 wks, but the place they do them at was crazy-busy when I tried to schedule :P
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