Monday - November 24, 2008

QE2 Characters, Part 2 - The Geisha and the Cockney

Situated just below us in the dining room is a table for two and then a table for four people just beside that. A Japanese couple sits at the table for two and two English couples are at the table for four. One of the English gentlemen speaks with a strong Cockney accent. He is a rather verbose gentleman with a lively sense of humor, and he has started conversing some evenings with the Japanese couple. However, the Japanese man cannot speak much English at all and his wife has obviously studied English but her vocabulary is rather limited - much like my Italian!

Their lack of fluency doesn't deter the Cockney though, and he has made it is mission to the lady all the English proverbs and idioms that he can think of. You know, things like "a stitch in time saves nine" and "dog's body" and some I've never hear of like "throwing a hook". Imagine the difficulty this lady must be having because a) she's never heard these proverbs before, b) she has to have the meanings all explained to her, and c) not only are all the explanations being delivered to her in a foreign language, but in English with a strong cockney accent that I have trouble understanding myself! And the gentleman gets so involved in telling her all this, that he swings his chair around and practically ends up sitting at their table. 

To her credit, she dutifully writes down all these words of wisdom on a paper napkin and then takes them with her when she leaves the dining room. I have to wonder if she genuinely wants the information or if she is just being polite, as only the Japanese can be, and throws them away as soon as she is out of sight. Either she'll ignore all this or she'll end up the only Japanese person who can toss off old English sayings with a Cockney accent. Blimey!