Tuesday 19 July 2011

The Chinese laundry in New York (USA)


Douglas took his friend John to his usual Chinese laundry to drop off a load of washing.  The Chinese man said to Douglas, “Cor.”  Douglas responded, without any hesitation, “Ver cor.”

As they left the shop, John asked Douglas, “What was that all about?”  Douglas said, “The man was commenting on the weather and said, ‘Cold.’  I agreed, so I said in return, ‘Very cold.’”

John said, “But it didn’t sound anything like that to me.  He said cor.  How do you know he meant cold?”  Douglas said, “Well, one day I went in with a blazer for dry-cleaning.  The man pointed at the buttons and said, ‘Gor?’  And I said to him, ‘No, not gold.  Brass.’“

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