Diane Fiona James writes:
Oh, those embarrassing moments we all experience sometime in our lives. Being an English lady working in the banking industry for many years, I had to master the Afrikaans language with a speed. And so on one occasion, knowing I had just a few minutes before I was to go on lunch, I approached a Portuguese man next in my queue, and wanting to know if his transaction would take a long time, I politely asked him “Het Meneer ‘n groot ding?”
Of course he grinned from ear to ear, so happy for the interest, and almost shouted out his “Yes”.
The minute the words left my mouth, I knew it had come out wrong. The right word was of course “deposito” – Het Meneer ‘n groot “deposito” would have been more appropriate.
And again later in that week I put my foot in it again. Having just a while before lunch time again, I asked a very high society English old man: “Can I do you in five minutes?” He thought about it for a while, and his alert answer was “I think so”.
I immediately felt my cheeks flush and apologized for my silly choice of words. Needless to say, when I went out for lunch, he was waiting outside for me, eager to get his promised five minutes. And so these two gentlemen demanded that only I would help them with their (banking) needs. I became their favourite Teller who had such interest in her clients. I still laugh about it till this day. This happened many years ago.
