Work: Today, my boss is on the phone with a Russian customer, who keeps...

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 26 360

You deserved it 2 089

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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 30 648

You deserved it 3 436

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 1 128

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 38 735

You deserved it 4 991

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 49 704

You deserved it 3 033

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 550

You deserved it 114

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 60 178

You deserved it 3 520

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 57 645

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 31 328

You deserved it 3 050

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 1 666

You deserved it 165

By russianfail - 04/12/2013 16:24 - United States - Dallas

Today, I'm not getting paid 400$ per month because I failed my Russian language proficiency test. Russian is my first language. FML

I agree, your life sucks 41 447

You deserved it 16 709

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

Ms_ValS 27

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:09

The customer could be trolling you. FYL OP

summer4me 25

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:09

That customer was just being difficult on purpose. Sorry you had to deal with that

mattlikesfunions 22

Thursday 2 July 2015 1:32

Did you think maybe that the translator was translating badly?

EclipseCandy6 24

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:10

I wish people could just make up their mind

Silk_Routes 14

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:12

Interpreting is quite tricky..

Airshock22 11

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:13

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

razoray9 22

Saturday 4 July 2015 8:22

You've apparently never seen my family then

DFMLharsh 20

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:14

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

NotAKumquat 4

Tuesday 30 June 2015 13:52

You need to stop Russian to conclusions

DFMLharsh 20

Tuesday 30 June 2015 15:30

Ive said enough, i Moscow now.

Adeptus_Astartes 22

Tuesday 30 June 2015 18:06

Stop Stalin the conversation.

lovelockdown23 23

Tuesday 30 June 2015 21:45

Lol this thread was epic !

rachelthelime_fml 29

Tuesday 30 June 2015 23:20

Killed it. I'll Lenin a hand to get this up again

VeganVampyre 26

Wednesday 1 July 2015 2:19

Dude, the first rule of epic threads is that you don't ruin them to say how epic they are! How long have you been here, anyway?!

Sharkthedark 11

Wednesday 1 July 2015 18:06

you guys were really Russian to get these puns out

psychopolarbear 28

Wednesday 1 July 2015 21:09

If it's puns you want, then soviet.

Cads1 24

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:15

Give up and walk away.

Diarrhea_Volcano 29

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:19

Well hopefully your boss wasn't Russian you.

Pashazil 10

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:21

The customer is on drugs.

Captain_Debilos_fml 13

Tuesday 30 June 2015 12:21

maybe your russian is too bad

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The Top

Today, I was listening to music while my grandma and mom were in the same room. I only had one headphone in. My mom, thinking I had both in, started telling my grandma how much of a "little bitch" I am. My grandma went on to say, "She's also a slut." FML

I agree, your life sucks 60 261

You deserved it 17 461

Today, I went to work leaving my girlfriend asleep in my bed. Later she calls me, demanding to know how long I've been cheating on her. We don't use condoms but she found several in the bin when she decided to empty it. I had to explain while my colleagues listened that I use them to masturbate. FML

I agree, your life sucks 47 339

You deserved it 19 748

The Top

Today, I reactivated my Facebook account, having not used it for three months. My "friends" didn't realize this. According to their recent status updates, I'm disgustingly fat, have a hook nose, and I'm secretly hated. FML

I agree, your life sucks 36 569

You deserved it 4 979

Today, I went on a blind date that my sister had set up. When I arrived at the coffeeshop, I approached a man waiting by the counter, asking if his name was Tim (my date's name). He looked at me and said no and then left with a drink clearly labeled "Tim" in bold letters. FML

I agree, your life sucks 71 833

You deserved it 4 450

Today, my coworker left a tiny mess in the break room. I cleaned it up and jokingly said, "Your mother isn't here to clean up after you." She started crying. I forgot her mom died last week. FML

I agree, your life sucks 314

You deserved it 1 274

Today, I started training as a bartender. My very first client told me how his wife is sleeping with her sister's husband. He then told me that all the women he knows only want sex, and asked me why "we" were like that. He could be my dad. FML

I agree, your life sucks 47 695

You deserved it 5 040

Today, my parents were helping me construct my bed. We ended up not having enough screws to properly secure the frame. My dad mentioned that it might cause problems if I got a girl into my bed. My mom said, "Don't worry about it, we all know that's not going to happen." FML

I agree, your life sucks 104 598

You deserved it 9 210

Today, I learned that I'm highly allergic to onions. I love onions and they're in literally *everything*. FML

I agree, your life sucks 846

You deserved it 146

Same thing different taste

Communication Breakdown

Cheating cheater

Bosses gonna boss

Offended

You can talk, mate

Top comments

Comments