We Know, Eminem.

30-something guy: I can't speak English, but my prose is fuckin' smooth.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Overheard by: hb

Posted on July 14, 2018
Compare and contrast, Guys, Language barrier, Massachusetts

No Need to Get All Paulette Goddard on Me

Teenage girl: Mom, you have to buy me this book!
Mom: No, I don't, and I shan't.
Teenage girl: You what?
Mom: I shan't.
Teenage girl: “Shan't”?
Mom: Shan't.
Teenage girl: “Shan't”?
Mom: Shan't.
Teenage girl: “Shan't”?
Mom: Yes. Shan't.
Teenage girl: That's a word?
Mom: Yes.
Teenage girl: What's it mean?
Mom: It's a contraction of “shall not”, as in “I shan't buy you that book.”
Teenage girl: Ugh, fine! Enough shan'ting already!

Borders Bookstore
Olathe, Kansas

Posted on June 22, 2018
Books, Default, Family ties, Girls, Kansas, Language barrier, Moms, Questions, Stores, Teens, Women, Words

Enschuldegung, No Habla Escargot

Student #1: I think I want to go to Asia after college.
Student #2: Why?
Student #1: Because I really want to improve my Spanish, and the best way to do that is to live in the country.
Student #2: That’s a good idea.

http://overheardatcornell.blogspot.com/2006/10/long-overdue-update-part-3-last.html

Overheard by: paralyzedindisbelief

Posted on April 2, 2018
Language barrier, Overheard at Cornell, Students

Then We March Through Georgia!

Foreign language professor on first day of class (in Russian): By the end of this year, I will have you singing like Russian whores!

University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee

Posted on February 10, 2018
Colleges & Universities, Compare and contrast, Default, Education, Geography, Language barrier, Teachers, Tennessee

Ever Watch Any Of Bush's Speeches?

Four-year-old: Mommy, that girl speaks English!
Mother: Yes, she does.
Four-year-old: But nobody here speaks English. Does she really speak English?
Mother: Of course she speaks English! She's white!

http://overheardlines.blogspot.com/2007/06/canadians-in-ecuador.html

Overheard by: katie