Silly Yahkid Stories Part II...

One day, a fine young man was strolling down the streets of Singapore looking for some food to eat. He past by a bakery store and thought he'd grab some buns. Now, when it comes to Mandarin, he's not all that proficient. But nonetheless, he told himself, he'll try his best to spark up a conversation with the lady at the counter by ordering some buns. "Now," he thought to himself, "I want two buns and I know in Mandarin, it is 'yi' (一), 'er' (二), 'san' (三)... ". "So, if I wanted one, it would be 'yi ke' (一顆), and two would be...'er ke' (二顆)". And with full confidence, he said, "wo yao er ke" (我要二顆). Translated as "I want two of those" The lady looked at him and said, "wr ke?!, ni yao liang ke, shi ma?" (二顆?! , 你要两顆, 是嗎?). "2nd brother? (sounds like), You mean two buns, is it?". You see in Mandarin, 'er' (二) is used only for counting, like for digits. While 'liang' is used when you want to order two buns!! When he said "er ke" (二顆), it sounded like 2nd brother (二哥). "Se, se" (是, 是), he acknowledged. He paid for the buns, embarassed, he left the bakery. That unfortunate guy was none other than... me! Yes, now you know how bad my "Manda-win" is...