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One of the things that being an Olympic athlete entails is the fact that when you go compete anywhere outside of the United States there is a pretty good chance that you don’t speak the native language. For instance, it’s probably pretty unlikely that many of the members of Team USA currently competing in Pyeongchang actually speak Korean.
So in an effort to help their athletes communicate with the locals, the Team USA snowboarding team decided to have a list of Korean translations sewn inside the athletes’ coats. The page has a conversion chart for Celsius-to-Fahrenheit, the time zone, and the currency conversion rate. It also lists some individual words such as how to say yes, no, thank you, hello, and please. However, the choices they made for some of the phrases to put on that list are more than a bit of a head-scratcher.
Here are the phrases that make sense…
“I am an American athlete. I am representing my country in snowboarding at the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.”
“Do you speak English?”
“Which way to the Olympic Village?”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Could I have the check please?”
“Do you mind if I join you?”
“Where can I get a cab?”
Those I get, but the rest of the phrases seem a taaaad bit less useful.
“Can you help me find my hotel?”
Not sure I would be asking someone whose language I don’t even speak that question, but fair enough. I’ll let that one slide.
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“Do you want to go sing karaoke?”
Again, asking a total stranger to do that might not be the best idea for an Olympian, and is this really a key phrase Olympians will need to know?
“What is your zodiac sign?”
Twelve phrases. That’s what they had room for on this list and that was one they thought would be important?! Wouldn’t something like “Call the police,” or “Stay away from me you pervert” be more useful?
“Wish me luck!”
Again, that is what Team USA felt was more important than, say, “Where is the bathroom?”
And finally, and it’s a doozy…
“Hello, I love you.”
Are they just trolling us now? Because I feel like I am being trolled.
Also, unless you know the Korean alphabet, which I am sure 99% of the Amercian athletes do not, the only way these phrases are going to be of any use is if you unzip your coat and point to the phrase.
They have to be trolling us with this.
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