Beware of grapefruit ice-cream
While hiking through beautiful Cinque Terre, my sister and I stopped inside a small gelato shop for a cup of gelato. Italian had been particularly hard for my sister to pick up and she frequently made pronunciation errors. I'm not sure if it was the arduous hike, the hot weather, or the handwritten (and hard to read) ice-cream labels, but when it came time for her to order, my sister asked, Posso avere un pompino? to which the lady tending to the order turned bright red before bursting into a glee of laughter, and a young Italian man leaning against the counter suddenly turned his attention to my sister, offering her a sly smile. It turns out that instead of asking for a scoop of pompelmo (grapefruit) ice-cream, she had put to use Italian slang, and unwittingly asked for a certain oral practice! To this day, pompelmo is the one Italian word my sister pronounces flawlessly.
Sent by: Tina
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That is a very convincing argument for getting pronunciation right or, indeed for using '
My students often ask me, does it matter if they have not used the correct word or, indeed, pronunciation.
The question is, however, how did Tina or her sister come to know the meaning of 'pompino' as it certainly isn't in any dictionary.
Hi! I'm a Brazilian trying to learn the Italian language, your story is really funny. It made me never forget the details of this pronunciation. Thanks very much for posting such a hilarious situation. Indeed helpful!
That's got to be the best I've seen yet! I love the man leaning against the counter's reaction!
That is hilarious! I bet that's one way to not pronounce words wrong. :)
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Beware of ordering a 'diet coke' in a pub outside of London if you are not a native English speaker!
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