Which is the Bigger Blunder?
My friend Glen possesses an amazing musical talent. I always enjoy listening to him at Open Mic, whether he performs in English, Mandarin, or dialect, and I’ve enjoyed seeing his more formal performances in other locales as well. But Glen has another talent too, one that is not so much for the stage, but for his relationships with his friends. He is an amazingly gifted communicator, even when he is confined to the English language, which is not his first preference. Even at those times, he can really hold his audience, engaging others in interesting conversation, and keeping everything lively and fun.
Glen, though, sometimes struggles with the thing all of us who have ever tried to learn a language do from time to time — he mixes up words sometimes in a way that can be a little funny, even when he is not trying to be. Being the good sport he is, he’s allowed me permission to share some of his stories on this blog, and I thought it would be fun to get your votes… which of these two (my favorites) do you think is the bigger blunder? (I’m sure Glen will enjoy hearing opinions from native English speakers.)
Story A
Upon learning that much of Glen’s dazzling musical ability is self-taught, someone asked him, “How did you get to be such a great guitarist?”
Glen’s answer: ”I’m Jesus.”
(He meant, “I’m a genius.”)
Story B
One of Glen’s guitar students came to class, a sweet girl of roughly 10 years in age. Glen wanted to encourage her to work hard, and so began the lesson saying, “If you play all of this right, without any mistakes, I will give you three strippers.”
(He meant to say, “three stickers.”)
So what do you think? Who wins, Jesus or the strippers?
To me Glen will always be “jesus” which I guess makes the 3 strippers a bit more of a blunder. jesus gives strippers? jesus and the strippers? “Mommy what’s a stripper? jesus said he’d give me 3″
I can’t decide. But wouldn’t “Jesus and the Three Strippers” be a great name for a band?
Michelle — I think the combination you have set up here is just about right. A funny configuration, isn’t it?
Pinhole — I would definitely come and hear you in that band. My question is, which would you be?
The first mistake would be acceptable, giving a 10 year old 3 strippers would not be. My vote is B. (but both are funny!)
I think Glen will be glad to know he has official approval from a minister of the church to say he is Jesus.
I told him that if the girl’s father comes asking about the strippers, he just needs to say, “Stripper? What’s a stripper?”
My vote is for the Jesus blunder. It’s really funny.
Yeah, I like that too.
yeah both funny, but I say b is a more of a blunder based on the child’s age. yeah, I can just see “hey mom, what’s a stripper?”
Glen is so much fun, silken. You’d really love him. I wish I could be like him about language learning — he takes it all in stride, laughs at the funny aspect of mistakes, and goes along. I cringe when I make mistakes, rather than having such a fun attitude about it. No wonder Glen is so much more popular than me!
Definately Story A!
At least, Glen is our Jesus in Music~
What’s more, Jesus never makes me want to laugh, but Glen does!
So, I prefer Glen to be the Jesus~
Glen is as funny as they come, isn’t he? I love how he can make all of us laugh, whatever background we come from.
“Jesus and the Three Strippers”…..sounds good.
But, I’ m afraid nobody want to play with me.
Hey, not only are people willing to play, but you have a loyal fan club following you!