Comrades,
Looks like the Trumpotus is fluent in Japanese, without even knowing it.
What a clever, inscrutable guy.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/10/shinzo-abe-donald-trump-earpiece-translation?google_editors_picks=true
When we were in East Timor, we spent some time with "The King of Dili", an old work mate of the missus...
We were talking languages; he's fluent in English, Tetum and Bahasa but doesn't have a word of Portuguese.
He said that's easy to get around.
He reckons he ran into Xanana Gusmão at some diplomatic drinky-poos one day and the subject came up.
Gusmão told him it's simple...you just need to know one word in Portuguese...when someone is jibbering Portuguese at you, you pretend you can understand, smiling and nodding all the time, and then when they've finished, you say the Portuguese word for "that's it!" or "of course!" or "voila!", as if the bloke talking to you knows the answer to everything in the world.
Works every time.
Wondder what the Japanese expression is for "voila!"?
(originally published 15-02-17)
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