Woman on personal call: Oh, wow, they really talk like that? Y'all? (pause) I'm not sure I'd want to live down there. I can't believe they haven't learned how to talk yet!
West Warwick, Rhode Island
Woman on personal call: Oh, wow, they really talk like that? Y'all? (pause) I'm not sure I'd want to live down there. I can't believe they haven't learned how to talk yet!
West Warwick, Rhode Island
Grad student: So I think that the manuscript should be organized differently…
(advisor's phone rings, he has a quick conversation in Arabic)
Advisor: Goddammit, sorry. I hate when my damn Arab relatives call, they always want me to set them up with prostitutes for their trips to the United States.
Grad student: Uh…
Advisor: Anyway, where is figure 3 going in your paper now?
Baltimore, Maryland
Overheard by: LabCat
Distinguished foreign lecturer: We're not sure what these people were doing here or how long they stayed, but they made a lot of fire and left a lot of human remains.
NYU
New York City, New York
Overheard by: Claire H.
Employee #1: The Latinos that work there…it's like they have their own little language.
Employee #2: Is it Spanish?
Fairfax, Virginia
Overheard by: Meghan
Employee #1: I really want to learn Italian.
Employee #2: You should just go to Milan for the weekend! And then you'll come back and be all, merci beaucoup!
Manhattan
New York City, New York
French intern: Um, excuse me? What is “slut”?
Coworker: Heh…I would run that by your supervisor.
Watertown, Massachusetts
Overheard by: Rachael
Teen to Latina: How do you say 'thumb in your ass' in Spanish?
Houston, Texas
Overheard by: Amo
Boss: Then Megan* and Elizabeth* can review it.
Lisa: Don't you mean Courtney*?
Boss: Oops! Excuse me. You're right.
Lisa: I know; We Americans all sound alike.
Boss: No, not really. I do the same thing with my kids.
Lisa: Are they all the same gender?
Boss: Not at all. I've got three of them–one of each.
Lisa: Okay. One's male and one's female. What's the third one?
Boss: (silence)
Redwood City, California
Guy: You need to get one of them “faux pas” things, they won't even consider you if you don't have one. You need to go to the web site and turn them in a “faux pas.”
Girl: Do you mean a “resume”?
Medical Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Overheard by: Annie Mosity
White male suit: How's tricks?
White female suit: Tricks?
White male suit: It's a hip hop way of saying “How's it going?”.
White female suit: You're so gangsta.
Denver, Colorado
Overheard by: Totally gangsta.
