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Tongue Ties (AKA Linguistic Serendipity)
By Joe Pivetti

Hellos (not goodbyes) are mushi, mushi in Tokyo. In response to harigoto you can say "don't touch my moustache" Instead of doishtae mashtae (especially if you've just applied wax). If in Paris you forget to say j'est-ador, Your spouse might shut it and lock it And not ever espouse merci again. While in Bonn you are just bitte After someone says danka And you don't have a doughnut to dunk. In Esperanto, how are you comes out kiel vi fartas. In Gothenburg a farthinder might be the cause of a sad Saab story. And in Yiddish, I understand, its ikh farshtey. If you're going Dutch right after the graag gedaan, You might get some java and a doughnut to dank u wel. But if that doesn't sit well in your tummy you beterschap ['til you drop!] A Mandarin understands when he says wǒ dǒng (its not because you're wrong). Oh he might say bié guǎn wǒ when he wants you to go. And sometimes his howdy is just a friendly knee slappin' nǐ hǎo. Do what you want to do, just do what's in ya, But...if you "do widzenia" in Poland...it just might be ta ta. In Hungarian lesz, ami lesz is not Shakespear's daughter's girlfriend But what Doris Day meant when she sang "que sera sera" at film's end