Re: CHAT: cultural interpretation [was Re: THEORY: language and the brain]

Quoting Stone Gordonssen <stonegordonssen@...>:

> >This does vary, though.  Southerners are more risk-averse
> >than Northerners, which is one reason the stereotype of
> >Northerners in the South is of rude boorishness, however unfair
> >that might be.
>
> Well, yes and no. My fav take on this comes from a personal experience my
> partner, I and a Danish exchange student had in 1987 at a Ben & Jerry's ice
> cream shop in Atlanta. Bjarne, our exchange student, was trying to decide on
> a flavor...
>
> Server: Do you know what you want?
> Bjrane: No, not yet.
> Server ::gasp:: ::eyes wide:: You're not from around here!
> Bjrane: No.
> Server: Where're you from?
> Bjarna: I'm from Denmark.
> Server ::gasp:: Do they speak English there?
> Bjrane: No, they speak Danish.
> Server: Do you speak English?
> Bjarne: Yes.
> Server: Well, let me ask you: are they free there?
> Bjarne: Yes, and I'll have the strawberries-and-creme.
I don't really get this; what did the server mean by "free"?

                                                          Andreas