Brilliant! :D
unfortunately this is so true and reminds me of a lot of times when I had to call a customer service hotline in England...

It took me some time to figure it out - but it's definitely funny!!!
Why didn't your class find it funny? Are you teaching in an Asian country so that they found it offensive?

Hilarious, Gibson :-)) Reminded me of when I worked at the forestry faculty here, and we were expecting an Indian post-doc student. I was his "contact" and was to help him with any and all language barriers - would have done so, had I been able to understand a single word he said (and vice-versa). When he returned home several months later, he told one of my German colleagues (who had often carried out research projects in India): I am so glad you were here - you're the ONLY ONE who can speak English :-))

Indlish...if such a word is existing :)

Hilarious! :-)))

Is there a sound recording? I can't figure it out as text (maybe because I never tried room service anywhere?)

I have kept that one in my computer files for years now, a colleague got it via an Australian hotel partner...but it still makes me laugh.

It does work the other way as Carly stated: in Nepal the Sherpas stared at me with blank eyes even if I tried to speak slowly, clearly using short words - my friend, however, with a thick German accent and little more than rudimentary knowledge of Grammar - was understood with no problems.

CJ, Try saying it out loud and sort of slur the words together.

I can confirm that this is NOT a made up thingy - had similiar experiences when trying to reserve hotel rooms for colleagues. And not only when trying to do so in India - numerous times I called the US and had someone on the line, who could NOT speak English - at least not so I could understand them.

Reminds of the time I had forgotten a sweater in a Japanese restaurant in San Jose. I got desperate trying to find out over the phone whether or not it had been found. Desperate!

For CJ

"Morny. Ruin sorbees" - Morning, Room Service

Guest: "Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service"

Room Service:
"Rye..Ruin sorbees..morny! Djewish to odor sunteen??" Right, RS, Do you wish to order something

Guest:"Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs"

Room Service: "Ow July den?" - How do you like them?

Guest: "What??"

Room Service: "Ow July den?...pry,boy, pooch?" ? ? poached?

Guest: "Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please."

Room Service: "Ow July dee bayhcem...crease?" How do you like the bacon, crisp?

Guest: "Crisp will be fine."

Room Service: "Hokay. An San toes?" OK, and the toast?

Guest: "What???"

Room Service: "San toes. July San toes?" Some toast. You like some toast?

Guest: "Uhh... I don't think so"

Room Service: "No? Judo one toes??" No? You don't want toast?

Guest: "I feel really bad about this, but I don't know what 'judo one toes' means."

Room Service: "Toes! toes!...why djew Don Juan toes? Ow bow singlish mopping we bother?" Toast, toast! Why do you not want toast? Or, how about English muffin with butter?

Guest:"Oh, English muffin!! I've got it! You were saying 'Toast.' Fine." Yes, an English muffin will be fine."

Room Service: "We bother?"

Guest: "No. Just put the bother on the side."

Room Service: "Wad?" What?

Guest: "I mean butter...just put it on the side."

Room Service: "Copy?" Coffee?

Guest: "Sorry???"

Room Service: "Copy...tea...mill?" Coffee, tea, milk?

Guest: "Yes. Coffee please, and that's all."

Room Service: "One Minnie. Ass ruin torino fee, strangle ache, crease baychem, tossy singlish mopping we bother honey sigh, and copy....rye??"

Guest:


"Whatever you say."

Room Service:


"Tendjewberrymud."

Guest:


"You're welcome."

Room Service: "Ow July den?...pry,boy, pooch?" fried, ?, poached?

Aber boy?

@11: I assume it's "boiled"

AHHH RB, I got it! Boil(ed)!

Damit habe ich immernoch Probleme:

One Minnie. Ass ruin torino fee, strangle ache, crease baychem, tossy singlish mopping we bother honey sigh, and copy....rye??"

One minute. ???, scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, toasted English muffin with butter on the side and coffee.. right?

Jools, I couldn't quite get that one, either, but assume it to mean: One minute, I'll run that by you again :-))

Or maybe "that's room two hundred three"??

Dragon, Your suggestion makes much more sense :-)

Immer wieder lustig.

Erinnert mich auch daran, ebenfalls sehr amüsant:

http://www.avigsidan.com/avigsidan/airport.html

Or maybe room 23, though that part may be just made up for comic effect, like 'pooch,' which doesn't really match the rest of the accent. But other parts seem pretty typical: 'Why djew Don Juan toes?' is really 'Why you don't want toast?' (though of course it means 'Why don't you want toast?').

That is, I don't think it's Asian or Indian; it sounds (= reads) to me like a thick Hispanic accent in the US. Someone who was really good at Spanish accents might be able to say even which variety of Spanish changes /y/ to /dj/, so that 'you' becomes 'Ju.' My guess would be Cuban or Puerto Rican (so a hotel in Florida or New York), but that's just a guess.

Just came back home and had a look at the answers, and while scrolling down, I was giggling again. Thanks for all your feedback.

@Geena80: I don't know why, maybe they've just never heard this particular brand of English, and my attempts to put on the accent were admittedly very poor. If you can't really imagine the conversation, it probably isn't very funny.

@Jools, Carly et al: The 'Ass ruin...' threw me, too, so I'm glad you've managed to make some sense of it. I'm still not entirely sure how to pronounce it though.

I was just dealing with a shoe repair shop in NYC, after having read this thread this morning. And the various phone conversations I had with them reminded me very much of this. I got a real kick out of it. Thanks. :)

Da steht sogar ein © dabei.

@Gibson: 'Ass' with a relatively short A, as in 'lass,' 'ruin' in one syllable, like 'rune.' (-: ('[Th]at's room ...' is my guess.)

I'm trying to think where you could hear an over-the-top phoney TV Spanish accent like that on a sitcom or something. Maybe someone else can come up with an example.

I think Hank Azaria does a fake Spanish accent in "America's Sweethearts". It's been a while since I've seen it, however, so I'm not sure if it would be of any help.

If you want Indian, however, go for the Simpsons.

While we are on it, this one might make you laugh as well (pretty rude though ...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tHMvdBP2RQ
(Hope it shows correctly as You Tube is blocked on my workplace computer. Otherwise google "Korean Clock Lady")

Der Text ist auch in dem Buch "Übelsetzungen" aus dem Langenscheidt-Verlag abgedruckt, allerdings mit einer anderen Transkription ("Roon sirbees, morrin"). Leider habe ich das Buch aber nicht selber und kann mich auch nicht erinnern, wie die Passage mit dem "Ass ruin ..." dort lautet.

Ein guter Schlusslink ziert alles:

http://engrishfunny.com/