Him (tapping at my flat, squat, snub Asian nose): Button! Button! What’s “button” in Vietnamese?
Me (tossing between the Northern and Southern Vietnamese terms, then decided on what I use most): Hột nút.
Him (pronounced it as English words): Hot nut?
Me: Hahaaa! Thanks! That works too. But technically, the ‘o’ in ‘hột’ is like the ‘o’ in ‘hone’, not ‘-aw-‘ like in ‘hot’ or ‘pot’. And the ‘u’ is always ‘-oo-‘ in Vietnamese. So it should be “hot noot”.
Him: Oh, I see. Hot nude?
Me: That’s it. I’m sending you to a proper language school! A non-R-rated one!
~tt~
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