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by Ms. Randhani Nirwan

Guy #1    : Look! There's a very beautiful girl sitting alone. Let's go ever there and introduce oursleves. Maybe she wants someone to talk to. I really want to know her.
Guy #2    : Okay.
Guy #1 and Guy #2 approach the girl.
Guy #1    : Hi! Are you alone?
Girl          : Yes
Guy #1    : Are you boring? You must be boring
Girl          : Jerk!
Girl splashes her drink at his face and leaves.
Guy#1     : ??


The short dialogue between the guy and the girl perfectly illustrates a damage from misuse of adjectives. Guy#1's poor understanding of adjective endings costs him a chance of getting to know a pretty girl. If you do not feel a little sympathy for Guy #1, or if you do not understand why the girl is angry, you might want to consider brushing up your English.

But let's review the short dialogue again. As well as being rude, Guy #1's small talk lines-- "Are you boring? You must be boring"-- definitely miss the point he wants to convey. The girl's anger is no surprise to us, but it is a surprise to Guy #1. He does not realize that he has made an incorrect use of English syntax. Clearly he wishes to make an acquintance with the girl. He claims so himself. It is also safe to assume that he is hoping that the girl wants to have someone to talk to; hence he wishes to introduce the topic by asking if the girl feels bored, or so he means to say. But the line "You must be boring" does not make a prediction of the hypothesized boredom the girl may be feeling; the line makes a prediction of the girl's unattractiveness as a conversationalist. No wonder she is outraged! She thinks that the guy thinks that she is a poor conversationalist. Get it? Get it? The girl is angry because Guy #1 uses the adjective "boring", which translates "membosankan" in Bahasa Indonesia, rather than "bored"-- or "bosan" in Indonesian translation-- when what he really means to ask is whether the girl is bored or not.

This is just an example of damages that could arise from misuse of English syntax. The joke may sound deliciously goofy to you when you read it, but it may not be so funny to you if you were the one in a situation similar to that of Guy #1. The guy has clearly stepped off on the wrong foot when he uses mistaken English syntax in his pick-up lines.You do not want to have anyone misunderstand you like that pretty girl in the dialogue misunderstands Guy #1, do you? What the girl calls a jerk, we at A Very Long English Programs Advertisement, inc. call a prospective student.

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