terms | reality | Misunderstood meaning |
1.interesting~ | When you say ‘interesting~’ during conversation, you are actually feeling boring and you think the speaker is being redundant and overly talkative. It’s an unconscious express of your impatience. |
Maybe people take that as a compliment and continue the annoying conversation. |
2.I will take that as a compliment | You are implying that people are speaking inappropriately and make them realize how acerb he/she is. For example, when he/she says, “Your idea is stupid, although it is much better than the last one.” You reply, “I will take that as a compliment.” |
Even though some people will get it, others may consider it as a sign of compromise and stupidity. |
3.that’s ridiculous | Sometimes when people see or hear something they do not understand, they say unconsciously: that’s ridiculous! It typically shows that they feel something hard to believe, or, sometimes their reluctance to acknowledge their fault and mistake. |
It may be interpreted as disagreeing someone rudely. In either daily or professional conversations, they could be the sign of contempt and make people feel uncomfortable. |
4.呵呵 | This Chinese word initially represents happiness. The pronunciation of this word is similar to the laughing sound. However, in recent time, this word had been widely used for many meanings. For example, it can show your disagreement with someone as a sniff. Also it can be used in an embarrass conversation in which both speakers don’t know what to say. |
Inevitably, there is a huge language gap between people of one generation and the others. Elder people do not know what others are expressing when they say this word. Sometimes they use it to express gladness, which actually seems like dissatisfaction. |
