Work: Make it make sense - FML

Make it make sense

By Claudine - 30/06/2015 06:18 - Belgium - Liège

Today, my boss is on the phone with a Russian customer, who keeps saying, "Speak Russian please!" My boss asks me to translate, as he hired me for my knowledge of Russian. He says something, I translate in Russian, then the customer says, "Speak English please!" FML

I agree, your life sucks 26 379

You deserved it 2 092

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Same thing different taste

By PuddlePirate - 07/09/2012 16:23 - United States - Mountain Iron

Today, my co-worker and I were having a conversation in Russian. Our boss overheard us talking, shouted, "I know you're talking about me! I speak Spanish too!" and threatened to fire us. FML

I agree, your life sucks 30 671

You deserved it 3 438

Communication Breakdown

By rosie - 08/03/2021 13:59

Today, I was unable to communicate with a customer who only spoke French. As a result, my boss called me a "monolingual idiot." I speak Spanish, German, and Japanese. FML

I agree, your life sucks 1 143

You deserved it 73

By Salaryman - 15/02/2009 06:21 - Philippines

Today, I was instructed by my boss to welcome the 2 new foreign business partners since I am the only one who could speak their language. When they arrived I greeted them in their language. One of them scratched his head and asked his companion in plain and clear English, "What did he say?" FML

I agree, your life sucks 38 748

You deserved it 4 997

Cheating cheater

By anahira6 - 27/09/2013 19:41 - United States - Houston

Today, my boss's son is training to take over my job as head translator, after having convinced his dad that he's fluent in Spanish, and that my skills suck. I soon walked in on him using Google Translate on a legal document. My boss refuses to believe me. FML

I agree, your life sucks 49 724

You deserved it 3 037

Bosses gonna boss

By Anonymous - 15/12/2024 08:00 - United Kingdom

Today, I noticed I spend most of my day translating French, German, and other languages for my boss, as he talks to people overseas. As his assistant I make crap money. If I were promoted to a Translator I’d make a lot more. He won’t promote me. In fact he threatened to fire me if I asked again. FML

I agree, your life sucks 587

You deserved it 127

Offended

By Anonymous - 04/09/2009 04:31 - Canada

Today, a customer came in who only spoke Spanish. I speak Spanish rather well so I helped the customer. She ended up buying $2300 worth of stuff. I got written up because not speaking English apparently "has the potential be offensive to other customers if they are not able to understand you." FML

I agree, your life sucks 60 203

You deserved it 3 524

By grammarnazi-forareason - 03/07/2013 06:48 - Sweden - Stockholm

Today, I had the questionable honor of explaining the difference between "your" and "you're" to my boss, and very diplomatically make her see why her poor grasp of language could affect our credibility as a communication agency. I'm Swedish, and English is my third language. She's American. FML

I agree, your life sucks 57 657

You deserved it 3 756

By Anonymous - 13/11/2008 08:42 - France

Today, my boss said to me: 'You know, our competitors are also hiring!' FML

I agree, your life sucks 31 341

You deserved it 3 054

You can talk, mate

By Anonymous - 30/07/2019 12:07 - United Kingdom - Bristol

Today, a customer asked me if I was English, because I was struggling to understand what he was saying. I said yes. He then called me a liar, and said I must be "one of them Polish immigrants." Oh, and he also had a thick Scottish accent. FML

I agree, your life sucks 1 683

You deserved it 166

Duolingo

By Anonymous - 17/04/2025 03:00 - United States

Today, a client came in and was struggling to speak properly. He said, “Sorry, no good English” so I offered a Spanish speaking colleague who could assist. He frowned and said he was from Greece. He threw a fit and got my manager involved. I got a write up and have to do an online sensitivity training. FML

I agree, your life sucks 412

You deserved it 282

Next

Top comments

Airshock22 11

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:13

I've heard of a language barrier before, but not a language revolving door.

DFMLharsh 20

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:14

You Putin a lot of efforts but they went to waste.

Comments

Dan_Superman_96 6

Wednesday 1 July 2015 1:26

OMG im not the only one with this struggle!!

joshi42 16

Wednesday 1 July 2015 6:17

Yes, he MAY be trolling. But don't underestimate boundaries of stupidity either.

lmbachman 23

Wednesday 1 July 2015 19:45

Sounds like they were just trying to use a non-existent language barrier to get what they wanted. I thought that only happened in the U.S.!!

1stones 8

Wednesday 1 July 2015 21:13

Ohhhh, i know what im doing next time those fkers call >:)

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You deserved it 791

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You deserved it 43 113

Today, I had a job interview. I have a speech impediment and as much as I tried to keep it under control, it came out during the interview. I could tell the interviewers were trying to hold in their laughter. They ended the interview after 5 agonizing minutes, saying they’ll contact me. I left in tears. FML

I agree, your life sucks 1 206

You deserved it 104

Today, I wrote a song for my boyfriend on paper. The first thing he did was correct my grammar. FML

I agree, your life sucks 22 032

You deserved it 8 477