The Pig says . . . "Hroo, hroo"??

The other day as I was listening to my children play outside, I thought about how sound effects differ from country to country. For example, when we were in France, when children were playing good guys and bad guys, their "guns" said, "Claque, claque!" In Ghana, they say, "Po, po" with a long "o" sound. The children in America would say, "Pow, pow!" or "Bang, bang!"

I asked some missionary ladies for some different sound effect words from their country of service. I never realized that animals could make so many different noises!

In America, the dog says, “Woof, woof;” “Bow, wow;” or “Ruff, ruff.” In Russian speaking countries, the dog says, “Guff, guff!” In Romania, the dog says, “Hum, hum!” while in Japan the dog says “Wan, wan!” But, in Dominican Republic, the dog says, “How, how!” In Mexico and Peru, the dog says “Wow, wow.” In Brazil, dogs say, “Ow, ow, ow.”

In Romania, there are no “cock-a-doodle-doos;” the rooster says, “Cucurigoo.” In Japan, the rooster says, “Koe ke koe koe.” In Argentina, the rooster says “Kee-keety-kee.” In France, the rooster says, “Cocorico.” In Peru, the chick says, “Pio, pio” (sounds like pea-o) instead of “cheep, cheep.”

The mice in Romania do not squeak; they say, “Kitz, kitz.” In Japan, they say, “Chew, chew.”

Instead of ducks that say “Quack, quack,” in Romania, they say, “Mac, mac.” But, in Cambodia, they say, “Geh, geh.”

The cows in Cambodia say “Maw” instead of “Moo.” But, cows in Japan say “Moe, moe.”

In Japan, the sounds on Old Mac Donald's farm are quite different. There is not an “oink-oink” but a “boo-boo” coming from the pig and a “he heen” coming from the horse instead of a “neigh, neigh.” In some Russian speaking countries, the pig says, “Hroo, hroo.”

In Japan, there is not a “ribbit” coming from the frog on the lily pad but a “gedoe, gedoe.”

In Brazil, birds say “Pew, pew.” In Portuguese, that is Tweety Bird's name too! “I tought I taw a Pew-Pew! I did! I did taw a Pew-Pew!”

If you were rocking your baby in some Russian speaking countries, you would say, “By, by” to the baby as you rocked him. But, if you were in Mexico, while bouncing the baby instead of rocking him, you would say, “Neh, neh, neh.”

Guns in Romania say, “Poc.”

In Japan, the clocks do not say “tic-toc;” they say “kachi-kachi.”

In Mexico, if something slams with a bang it says, “Pas!” (The a sounds like the a in all.)

In Brazil, instead of saying “Gulp, gulp” to signify guzzling, you say, “Goochy, goochy.” If you laugh really hard after hearing “Goochy, goochy,” it is not “Ha, ha, ha!” but “Wahk, wahk, wahk!”

Instead of saying “Knock, knock” when letting someone know you are at their door, in Ivory Coast they say, “Toc, toc.” In Ghana, they say, “Kɔkɔɔkɔ.” (It sounds like “Cawcawcaw.”) In Uganda, they say, “Koh-dee, koh-dee.”

In Brazil, to sneeze is “AHCHEEN!” instead of “ACHOO!”

In Mexico or Brazil, you might hear a mother saying, “Tsh! Tsh!” to her child instead of “No! No!”

Thank you to all of the ladies who contributed! These are sure to bring a smile to your face.

Next week, we will be sharing some language bloopers from different parts of the world. Of course, we could always use some more sound effects! If you have a language blooper or some sound effects that you would like to share with us, please e-mail them to me at loconsford@gmail.com. Please include the name of each family member, your field of service, and a picture of your family if possible.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!