• danekrae@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      Anybody whose able to speak another language than english can do it.

      But that does exclude a lot of americans.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        you don’t even actually have to speak another language. just make shit up. babble like a fundie “speaking in tongues” and repeat “no speakey eni englche”… helps if you can go a little castor-eyed and pull out the crazed weirdo look.

        • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          But please don’t try that with bilinguals. We may not understand you but we have plenty of experience knowing what a foreign language sounds like.

          I’ve had two people pull that shit on me and all they did was lose my respect for thinking I’m that stupid.

          • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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            17 hours ago

            While I get what you’re saying, I’m not sure whether people who are pretending to speak another language in order to avoid talking to you really care after they have your respect.

            • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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              16 hours ago

              What’s funny is that one of them did it while their friend was introducing us to seem interesting, I guess, and the other time was out on the street where an older guy was tipsy drinking in public, pulling at my arm, trying to grab my attention while I was about to cross the street. I don’t know what was up with either of them, to be honest. Both happened in the same week, and never again.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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            18 hours ago

            so like, the people it works on, aren’t going to be bilingual people, generally. especially if you happen to be a white dude. But it is fun to fuck with a certain crowd.

            • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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              17 hours ago

              Oh, that’s why I’m saying it, they didn’t know I’m bilingual! So make sure you know first. 😅

      • EtherWhack@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        You only need a couple of phrases (and a practiced accent/pronunciation) to seem believable enough for them to give up

        • JacksonLamb@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          This. The sayings we all know can easily be repurposed. I am sorry I don’t speak [english]. No I do not understand you. Thank you. Where is the train.

          I may have done this to American tourists in Europe.