20/20

Hindsight is 20/20. It's a relatively common phrase that I'm sure we've all heard before. It's probably popular because it's pretty self-explanatory and quite true. When you look at your past and what you did, it becomes extremely clear what you should have done and/or what you did wrong. We've probably all been there; you replay a scenario in your head and can't help but think "I should've done X instead of Y. I was being so stupid." This may be for some kind of school assignment (ex. quizzes, exams, etc.) or a dilemma in life.

On a slightly different note, where hindsight is still 20/20, you may look back at your past self and think "What was I thinking?!?!? Oh wait, I wasn't...." This situation has happened to me many times and will probably happen in the future many times more.... The most prominent example of this that comes to mind in my recent past? It's something I had thought about and something my parents still question me about to this day: "Why didn't you say anything when the driver of the car started going over 100 mph and driving recklessly?!?" 

If I had said something, I probably could've avoided a helluva lot of pain and suffering. But at the end of the day, I can't hate myself too much for being an idiot. I don't remember anything during the time frame around the accident, but I can infer from my personality as an adventurous risk taker, I probably thought the speed was fun and exhilarating.... up until the truck went *WHAM* into the tree. We were both dumb teenage boys, I'm willing to venture out on a limb and say that we both probably still am in a multitude of ways. But hopefully even more maturity, wisdom, and a bit more common sense will come as time passes.

Words Across Languages

I've grown up hearing and speaking a few different languages: Cantonese, English, Vietnamese, and a bit of Mandarin. I've found that interesting things occur when words go across the huge chasm known as "different languages", though. The same word/ pronunciation of it can mean an entirely different thing. There are countless examples out there considering there are roughly 6,500 spoken languages in the world today, but a couple distinct examples come to mind. 

The first example I think of is the word "colorful" in Thai. I don't actually know any Thai, but I do know one particular word because it’s rather easy to remember. In Thai, the word for color is สี, which is pronounced "sĭ". Coincidentally, "sĭ" is also how you pronounce the word "poop" or “feces” in Cantonese. This makes it quite amusing when you say colors in Thai to a person who speaks Cantonese. 

The word for “blue” in Thai is สีฟ้า, which is pronounced “sĭ fá”. “Fá” is also the pronunciation for “flower” in Cantonese. So, the color blue means “poop flower” in Cantonese. Grey in Thai is สีเทา, pronounced “sĭ thao”. “Thao” is also how you say “head” in Cantonese. So grey in Thai means “poop-head” or “sh*t head”. Fun!

But wait, we’re not done! The word for “that” in Mandarin Chinese sounds an awful lot like the N-word in English, which makes it quite amusing when you know both languages and hear the N-word every few moments in a Mandarin conversation. So don’t always think people are being derogatory or racist if you overhear people saying certain words. It can mean something completely innocent in the language they’re conversing in!