Many cross-cultural communication problems on the mission field are unintentionally caused by outsiders wanting to share God’s Word without involving the intended audience to take ownership of (or at least be involved in) the process of packaging the message. The story below is eleven years old but illustrates this timeless problem.
Last night I went to a Tex-Mex restaurant. They had tortilla chips on the menu, which was even in English. So we ordered them. This is what we got.
A fried tortilla with fries on top.
Fries=chips in British English.
So, tortilla chips.
Word for word translation can lead to serious miscommunication.
The fries were good, so this was not a serious miscommunication, just a good laugh.
Republished with permission from Nora’s blog
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