The "ask politically incorrect questions" thread

[slackerinabox]

Ok, so I have a few questions that are just not very PC but that I'd truly like to know the answers to.. These questions sound rude but I truly just am curious and mean not to insult the groups in question.. So I figure I'll post one un-PC question and hope that some people answer and others ask more questions.. Get it?

Ok, here's my first question:

Why do some asians confuse Ls for Rs and vice versa?

 

[SilentZero]

Its a pronunciation issue from what I gather. I live in hawaii where its about 85% asian, and to be honest the only time I ever hear that is with tourists from asia who rarely speak english.

 

[diamondgoat53]

why do they call it taking a dump when you're really giving one?
--Beavis

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: SilentZero
Its a pronunciation issue from what I gather. I live in hawaii where its about 85% asian, and to be honest the only time I ever hear that is with tourists from asia who rarely speak english.

I understand that and know it's very rare.. My question is why does this happen when most asian languages have a different alphabet system? In other words, it's not like the physical letter L is pronounced like an R in their language.. A friend of mine also noticed this in Africa so it's not limited to asians..

 

[Ikonomi]

The "L" and "R" mispronunciation is called lallation, and in the case of native Japanese speakers (I dunno about any other language), it stems from the way the "R" sound is pronounced in that language. There's no drawn out "L" or "R", unlike English. Instead, the approximation is more of a tap of the tongue behind the front teeth, somewhat akin to a soft "D", but not really. It's compounded by the way that foreign words are written in katakana, with the same characters representing "L" syllables and "R" syllables. Like "Mario and Luigi" is written the same as "Mario and Ruigi".

Anyway, I've been told by Japanese that the "R" is the pronunciation that Americans have the most trouble with, because the sound is very foreign to American English.

 

[cheesewhiz]

Why didn't we let the south secede when they wanted to..

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Ikonomi
The "L" and "R" mispronunciation is called lallation, and in the case of native Japanese speakers (I dunno about any other language), it stems from the way the "R" sound is pronounced in that language. There's no drawn out "L" or "R", unlike English. Instead, the approximation is more of a tap of the tongue behind the front teeth, somewhat akin to a soft "D", but not really. It's compounded by the way that foreign words are written in katakana, with the same characters representing "L" syllables and "R" syllables. Like "Mario and Luigi" is written the same as "Mario and Ruigi".

Anyway, I've been told by Japanese that the "R" is the pronunciation that Americans have the most trouble with, because the sound is very foreign to American English.

Thanks for the honest answer... That's pretty interesting actually.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: cheesewhiz
Why didn't we let the south secede when they wanted to..

That's where all the oil was. Duh!

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: diamondgoat53
why do they call it taking a dump when you're really giving one?
--Beavis

Moron

Its "Why do they call it taking a dump when you're really leaving a dump"

 

[TechnoKid]

Is it wrong to eat a whole entire pecan pie? And can you/are you supposed to be afraid of it?



oh and as far as the mispronounciation thing, i don't hear it often enough from my folks to remember if they even do it a lot. Only thing I really notice is when they say "tomorrow."

 

[Ikonomi]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Is it wrong to eat a whole entire pecan pie? And can you/are you supposed to be afraid of it?



oh and as far as the mispronounciation thing, i don't hear it often enough from my folks to remember if they even do it a lot. Only thing I really notice is when they say "tomorrow."

That depends on whether you pronounce it "Pee Can".