Local Response....

What's the best answer you've ever had from a local abroad - when asking a question?
Something away from the ordinary - that sticks out above the usual.
We were on our way out of British Columbia and heading up to Alaska (by road).
Never done it before - and stopped to ask a local guy how long the road was good for.
He replied....
"I dunno, how good it is - and I don't know how long it lasts, but it's all we got".

I try to greet people in their own language, and I also ask if they speak English.

I used that tactic on entering a shop in Paris, starting with "Bonjour, madame," then following up with "Parlez-vous anglais?" Her reply: "Non, monsieur, mais vous parlez français." She was right, of course, and we carried on in her language.

In Australia, everywher, I'd thank folks for their help. No matter the social or economic level, the answer was "She's roit , Mayte. We're all in this togettha. One hand washes the otha."

I have two: one from the guide at Meteor Crater, Arizona - I asked him if the direction from which the meteor came was known, and the answer was 'ain't nobody was here, and ain't nobody knows'.

and another overhead from a Greek waiter, when the diners were regretfully telling him that it was the last night of their holiday: 'expensive perfume comes in small bottles' (i.e the best things in life don't last long)

Stopped at a gas station in rural Maryland, USA to ask how to get to a small community near by. When we asked, "do you know where Severna Park is?" the attendent replied "Yep" and then just walked away.

This is brilliant.
Thanks for everything - so far.
Keep 'em coming.

not sure if this counts, as it was more a reaction than an answer to a question: when i was in kerala, i tried to learn some malayalam, got a lot of happy reactions... well, once i went to a shop, and i did everything (asking for the price, saying how much i want etc.) in malayalam. the shop person replied in malayalam, no reaction to me speaking malayalam though. except when i left and said "pinne kanam" (good bye) - and suddenly he started laughing and saiyng "you said 'pinne kanam'! you speak malayalam!" - apparently he only noticed then...

I'm from Texas. But I learned lots of Spanish on my Swedish ship days. 1964.

Later ashore, I find out I only spoke seafilth. They set me up..
{ 8oQ

I took Spanish when I finally got to college. I denide knowing any.

My prof (from Granada, left my grade off my report card. I went to his office. The old sweetheart said,"Put a B+ on there."

I remimded him, I never passed a test.
He says,"Shut up. You helped eveybody with their Spanish."

Why not a web university? Why not learn from others questions? And meet cool people you wouldn't have.

God bless Art Department honesty!!!!!!!

It's always so appreciated to say please and thank you in another language.
I get a little bit narky when I read someone has no time to learn any of a language - but then says they're taking a laptop on holiday with them, meaning hours of Facebook and Skype, but no 4-5 minutes to learn a few phrases.
The natives love it when you say a few words in their lingo.

I was travelling on a heavily laden bicycle on an unpaved road in southern Chile. It was very windy, and by then rather late in the afternoon, and the scenery no special distraction immediately about there, so every km was becoming hard and painful to me. A signpost indicated that my intended destination for the day still lay 25km away. This was really annoying because a signpost at the last junction about 7km back had given just the same distance. By chance there was someone just standing there, for no apparent reason, so I asked if it was really 25km. I was told, yes, it is 25km to that place. So I said, more in desperation than expectation, but it said it was 25km at the junction back there. He replied, it is indeed 25km, but from there, not from here: we always measure the distance from there.

*9....
Superb.
There is a phrase that Brits use quite a lot....
"Had an accident? Not your fault?"
Tough S**t - Welcome to Bulgaria.

"Whadya call a person who speaks three langueges?

Polylingual.

@?...

you know the rest...
American."

Me , not long in the USA, San Francisco Greyhound station: "One way to Mt Shasta"
Bus driver: "You wanna go to Manchester?"
.

Me, not long in Scotland - Edinburgh music shop: "Do you have any (certain brand) strings?"
Shop man: "No. Try Bennetts"
Me: "Where's Bennetts? I'm sorry, I don't know Edinburgh"
Shop man: "Well, we all have our little crosses to bear"

Aged in my 50's at the time, I went into a supermarket in California shortly after arriving, to buy some groceries and also a 6-pack of beer. Pleasant checkout guy, with a twinkle in his eye (which I missed), says "Do you have any identification?" Assuming this must be some local law, I said 'sure' and started to reach for my passport, as he burst out laughing.

any student you meet at any german university will give you the same answer:

"i dunno, how good it is - and I don't know how long it lasts (takes), but it's all we (i) got".

superlufti2000 from nuremberg in bavaria

It's interesting that, when asked a question that encourages imagination, most of the usual SiT scribers are silent.

NA (1) is to be applauded for promoting thinking; a pastime never enjoyed by those who subscribe only to their view of the world.

P.S. A great OP - but those who are snobbish (thinking themselves purists) will not reply.

Not abroad, but in an Irish-speaking area in the west of the country, a taxi driver, speaking in English, told us that of the two roads we were considering to get to the same place, "the inland road is shorter, but the coast road is straighter, they say."

I asked the young bus tour guide,"Is that bkack and white cow, a Gernzy cow?"

"Ya vee have sem in Gernsey tooo."

You could fill a whole thread with directions given in the west of Ireland.

My favourite was "Oh, it's two parts down the road"
We thanked him and went on our way until my mate said "WTF's a 'part' ?"

Not the best but I have friends who refuse to trust a new zealander or an australian who claims something is just down the road.

Apparently they got caught out a few times expecting something to be much closer than it was.

In Norway, I greeted a Spaniard with "Hola, como estas?"

He shot back, "I'm sorry, I don't speak English."

hmmm...

What a refreshing thread!

Until now, SiT has been dominated by a small group who write like they own it.

I suggest all of the above post more often in SiT :)

I was asking directions back to a main highway in rural Maine a few years back, and the response from the older gentleman was something like, "Well, head down this road a ways, but when it goes off to the right, you let it go."

Ah highway directions.

Lots of American expressions that confuse. You still hear "over yonder" said in the south which means somewhere away from where you currently are with the distance away not specified although it is implied that it isn't too far.

This one used to confuse me a lot when I lived in the south and someone offerred to "carry me across town" which meant to give me a ride in their car.

Once in my life, I received a reply from a very nice gentleman in Namur, Belgium, who replied the same sort of thing that I sometimes say.

"Do you know where the Ibis Hotel is?"
"Yes, I do."

When I changed the question to "Can you tell me how to get to the Ibis Hotel?" I received the information that I needed.

I should also mention people who give directions such as "Turn left up where the McDonald's used to be."

i was once asked for directions whem i was living in newfoundland. while giving the directions i said somthing along the lines of "you'll come to dildo" and she stoped me immiditly, and was very offended cause she though i was trying to be funny or rude. but she found it pretty funny when i explained to her there was actully a town called dildo.

#25 - that reminds me, somewhat off topic, of the time a tourist in Dublin asked me the way to the Hibernian Hotel. I looked puzzled and explained to him that it had closed down and been demolished quite a few years previously, at which point it was his turn to look puzzled. What I didn't know was that a new hotel had opened up some years after the passing of the rather famous original, and decided to adopt its name. I wonder how often that turned out to conceal pitfalls.

a tourist in Dublin asked me the way to the Hibernian Hotel. I looked puzzled and explained to him that it had closed down and been demolished

A work colleague of mine landed in Panama City and asked a taxi to take him to a hotel where he had a reservation. The taxi driver advised him that this was not the kind of hotel an international business man should go to, indeed not even to that part of town. Nevertheless, since my colleague knew not what else to do, he took him there. On entering the hotel, which did indeed appear as the taxi driver described, he discovered he did not have a reservation there. He had a reservation for a hotel of the same name in Panama City, Panama, but he was in Panama City, Florida. He should indeed have been in Panama City, Panama. Now to his excuse, they do use dollars and speak a lot of English in Panama, and speak a lot of Spanish in Florida. But he had been so ignorant of geography, that it had not even occurred to him it was impossible to get from Miami to Panama on the sub-1hr flight he had been on.