Everyone,
 
If you were shelling in a country whose language you did not know, can you
think of any questions or phrases that might be useful in talking to locals
about shells? (Re the earlier post on shelling phrases.)
 
I need as many phrases as Conch-Lers can collectively think of, with regard
to shelling survival in foreign countries.  I'll compile the list, then
I'll need to find translators.  If you know anyone who is fluent in both
English and another language, may I please have their email addresses or
such, so I may inquire whether they might be willing to translate the
collected phrases into their native tongue?  At the least, need French,
Spanish (with regional terms noted), Portuguese, Tagalog, and Arabic.
 
Here are a few ideas to ask questions about:
 
-  Getting around, getting to the beach
-  Finding good shelling spots
-  Finding dive shops
-  Soliciting help from locals
-  Inquiring for permission to search a shell dump or tag along on a
trawler
-  Requesting a boat to take a party out snorkeling or dredging
-  Locating sellers of shells
-  Haggling for shells
 
I know there's much more, but I surely can't think of everything, so help!
Thanks in advance.
 
By the way, I am the culprit at large with regard to the Dodo doo-doo
incident, I confess.  For the record, I did in fact know that "turdus"
means "thrush" in Latin, but sometimes, you gotta let the chips fall where
they may.  Just doo it!
 
Now back to my staid demeanor,
 
Jenny Cline
 
401 S. Twin Creek Dr #9C
Killeen, TX 76543 USA
email [log in to unmask]
 
 
P.S.  Can any Dodo lovers out there guess what sound a thrush makes?
 
 
 
----------
> From: PaulCyp <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: R: common names (DODO)
> Date: Friday, 01 May, 1998 17:31 PM
>
> Oh help!  Wes says this conversation is getting drained - no Wes, at this
> point it is getting truly bizarre!  The posts by Carlos and Maurizio
confirmed
> my suspicion that many subscribers may not have any idea at all what this
> inane conversation is about!  Who was it that said "a bad joke is a joke
that
> needs to be explained"?  Anyway, for the sake of those whose knowledge of
> American vulgarisms may not be current, here's the explanation!
 
Thank goodness!  If this had kept up much longer, we could have turned the
list into Dodo-L.
 
> It started when someone referred to the American robin, a bird whose
> scientific name is Turdus migratorius.
> Then I mentioned that Cypraea turdus is called the thrush cowrie because
> Turdus means thrush (a family of birds).
> Someone else jokingly picked up on the fact that the word "turdus"
resembles
> the American slang term "turd", which means a piece of excrement.  This
led to
> introduction of the term "doo-doo", which is a sort of juvenile
expression
> meaning the same thing (you might ask a toddler if he has doo-doo in his
> diaper).
> Oh please!  Laugh break here!
 
Thanks, I needed that.
 
> I said that "turdus" could not mean "doo-doo" because no-one would name a
bird
> the "migratory doo-doo".
 
On the contrary, this is what my husband calls the species that flies over
his truck.  He does not use Latin, but it is certainly 'vulgate' English.
 
> (Am I really explaining this??  Will I ever be able to hold my head high
> again??)
 
I wouldn't suggest it, if the dodos are out flying.  Especially if they're
flocking with Porcus turdus avioni, the Thrush-winged Pig.
 
> Then the rest of the comments followed.  So, Carlos and Maurizio, we were
not
> discussing the dodo (which I realize is extinct), but rather "doo-doo",
> meaning bird excrement!  Incidentally, dodo means simpleton over here,
just as
> it does over there!  Any further discussion on this thread puts the
writer at
> risk of being so classified!
 
Awwww, you'll get over it.  We're all friends here.  Happy Bubbles!