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'Bưởi' is the Vietnamese word for Pummelo

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pagnr:
Some years ago I was in a local Vietnamese grocery and noticed they had a Pummelo in the small Buddhist Shrine in the shop.
I was in a rush, and also didn't want to be disrespectful about the offering in the shrine, so didn't ask about the Pummelo.
About a week later, I was back in the shop, and asked the Lady owner if they sold Pummelos ?
There was a language barrier, as the word Pummelo is not Vietnamese, and also I thought the word for it was Nam, because one of the Vietnamese types is Nam Roi.
Anyway, it went back and forth for a while, me making fruit sizes with my hand for Lime, Orange, Grapefruit, which made sense to both of us, but crashed at Nam.
The Lady was helpful, and suggested I come back after school when her son was working and he could translate.
I tried the hand gestures and Citrus types again.
Finally it clicked for her, and she said '' Ah, you mean Buoi "
Then it clicked for me too, and I remembered that was the Vietnamese word for Pummelo.
We were both happy with the breakthrough, and the Lady said the Pummelo fruit should be back in on Tuesday or Wednesday.
I still wanted to be sure about when to come back in,
so I asked " When will you get the Buoi in the shop" ?
The Lady quickly replied,
"He comes back after three thirty, after school"

I am still working on my pronunciation of Buoi.
Only last week I was walking in my neighbourhood, and noticed an elderly lady in her garden with six 2 metre pummelo trees along her fence.
We chatted, and I asked about the Buoi trees, to which she quickly corrected my pronunciation to one she was happier with.
She said the trees were Pink types grown from seed.
I had seen them often while driving, but never noticed any fruit yet.

Galatians522:

--- Quote from: pagnr on February 02, 2023, 04:37:28 AM ---Some years ago I was in a local Vietnamese grocery and noticed they had a Pummelo in the small Buddhist Shrine in the shop.
I was in a rush, and also didn't want to be disrespectful about the offering in the shrine, so didn't ask about the Pummelo.
About a week later, I was back in the shop, and asked the Lady owner if they sold Pummelos ?
There was a language barrier, as the word Pummelo is not Vietnamese, and also I thought the word for it was Nam, because one of the Vietnamese types is Nam Roi.
Anyway, it went back and forth for a while, me making fruit sizes with my hand for Lime, Orange, Grapefruit, which made sense to both of us, but crashed at Nam.
The Lady was helpful, and suggested I come back after school when her son was working and he could translate.
I tried the hand gestures and Citrus types again.
Finally it clicked for her, and she said '' Ah, you mean Buoi "
Then it clicked for me too, and I remembered that was the Vietnamese word for Pummelo.
We were both happy with the breakthrough, and the Lady said the Pummelo fruit should be back in on Tuesday or Wednesday.
I still wanted to be sure about when to come back in,
so I asked " When will you get the Buoi in the shop" ?
The Lady quickly replied,
"He comes back after three thirty, after school"

I am still working on my pronunciation of Buoi.
Only last week I was walking in my neighbourhood, and noticed an elderly lady in her garden with six 2 metre pummelo trees along her fence.
We chatted, and I asked about the Buoi trees, to which she quickly corrected my pronunciation to one she was happier with.
She said the trees were Pink types grown from seed.
I had seen them often while driving, but never noticed any fruit yet.

--- End quote ---

Very nice story, thank you for sharing.

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