Simple can be good
Some of the more amusing (and frustrating) discussions Crissy and I have are about the cultural differences between Indians and Americans. Lately, we’ve found lots of humor in some of the simple linguistic differences. One of my favorites is the usage of the adjective “simple”.
In India, “simple” means humble, honest, easy-going, and a host of other similarly positive adjectives Here though, “simple” basically means “simple-minded” or “stupid”. Obviously a situation that will lead to all sorts of amusement.
Two of our friends from India are getting married and they described their brides-to-be as “simple”; all the Indians listening nodded and the most of the non-Indians looked shocked.
As we cleared up the confusion, we realized that lots of people have had the word “simple” cause tension: from the manager praising an employee (”you a good simple person”) or the father-in-law praising his son’s wife (”I’m glad my son married a nice, simple girl.”).
I wonder what other things like this we’ll discover. (Aside from the pronunciation of “paint”, of course.)
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