Word: slushaiyu
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...sense that those speaking on early telephones were meeting like ships on a lonely and vast electronic sea. The world has now grown electronically dense, densest of all perhaps among the Japanese, who answer the phone with a crowded, tender, almost cuddling, quick- whispered mushi-mushi. The Russians say slushaiyu (I'm listening). The hipper Russians say allo. Italians say pronto (ready). The Chinese say wei, wei (with a pause between the words, unlike the Japanese mushi-mushi). Wei, wei is meaningless, except as a formula to answer the phone...
| 1 |