Orlando wrote on Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:48:53 GMT:
> wrote:
>> Good luck! Perhaps, if you are willing to wait a long time
>> but I don't think most buffets are particularly responsive to
>> special requests and I've never seen anyone making them.
> I don't think you understand how flattered Indians get when
> you use even two or three Hindi words, even when Hindi isn't
> their native language; it shows you're truly interested and
> willing to try. They, in turn, will make you fresh lime water
> or dry chappatis. Trust me.
>> I might ask the waiter to hold the ghee in a regular Indian
>> restaurant but I'm generally reluctant to use *unusual* words
>> from languages I do not speak. Of course that's not the same
>> thing as using established names like Tikka Masala and I do
>> know what some component words like "Aloo" mean.
> If you can use "tikka masala" without knowing the language,
> why can't you use "fulka"? Because you don't trust the blind
> schmuck on usenet who might be pulling your leg? *grin* Why
> would I do that to anyone?
There's a difference between using words that many others employ and
trying out new words. Thanks again, I might well try outside a buffet if
I remember! Sometimes my attempts at foreign words seem to meet with
complete puzzlement if they are not expected. It's probably on the same
level as Korean waiters who are mistakenly convinced that nobody but
Koreans can stand the spiciness of their food :-)
--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not