I would like to set my rose-colored glasses down on the coffee table for a moment, and give an example of the minor obstacles I face on a daily basis. This is an actual, verbatim conversation I had with a Motswana (person from Botswana) on Friday.
Referring to a Peace Corps volunteer we both know.
Woman: He is very good at Setswana!
Me: Ee Mma. O montle. (Yes ma’am. He is smart.)
Woman: Montle? That means beautiful.
Me: Ee Mma, but “montle” means smart as well, right?
Woman: O montle. He is beautiful.
Me: Oh, okay. How do you say “smart”?
Woman: “Montle” means beautiful.
Me: Ee Mma. What is smart? How do you say, “He is smart”?
Woman: He is smart? You say, “O montle.”
A hurdle may only be two feet high, but jump over them from 6:30 am – 5:00 pm, seven days a week, and even LoLo Jones would need a vacation.
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." -Mary Anne Radmacher
lol...shame, most people here use the word 'smart' to refer mostly to being nicely dressed, hence 'beautiful' I guess. You wanted to say 'botlhale', for which most people would say clever rather than smart...
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