When Lyndon Johnson was President of the United States, he made trips to the Republic of Viet Nam to confer with that nation's military leaders and government officials. Since Viet Nam is on the other side of the globe from Washington and because his trips were short, President Johnson determined to escape the perils of jet lag by maintaining the same time zone inside inside Air Force One as is in Washington. Local leaders were forced to meet with him in the middle of the Viet Nam night.

It is not unusual for all of us to consider our country to be the one by which all others are measured and to which all others must conform. I was in Japan a few years ago. On the wall of the home in which we stayed hung a world map. I knew it looked different somehow but did not immediately recognize why. Then I realized that Japan was in the center of that map. North America was off to the right, Asia and Europe sat over to the left. It seems we all consider ourselves to be at the center of the world.

Normally this is harmless and insignificant. Being a foreigner here in Uganda, I have been learning to speak English with a Ugandan flair. Uganda is a former British colony so English is the official language but it is spoken here with some distinction from the English I know in the US. Here is a glossary and pronunciation key for a few Ugandan English words.

• Wads - (wahds) = words
• Babecue (bah-be que) = a meal cooked outside, barbeque
• Vanish (vah'nish) = clear oil-based finish coat for wood , varnish (I have seen this spelled "vanish" on signs at paint stores)
• Chahch - (chaahch) = church
• Massy - (mahsy) = mercy
• Papus (pah'pus) = purpose
• Thod (thahd) = third
• Fast (fahst) = first
• Widith -(wi'dith) = width
• Tweluv - (twe'luv) =twelve
• Clothis - (clothe' us) = clothes

Then there is the usage of words, the unusual (to me) construction of sentences Like:

• "The cook is in the chicken smashing the Irish" which means "the cook is in the kitchen making mashed potatoes."
• "Assist me with the keys" which means "May I borrow your keys, please?"
• "The Peps is finished" means " We are out of Pepsi Cola." This actually makes some sense when one understands the Lugandan language. The plural indicator in English is "s" but in Lugandan it is "i" pronounced "ee" like the final sound of Pepsi. So, when Ugandans speak English they sometimes get the plural indicators  a bit turned around. Mahogany, the species of wood, will be called mahogan, no "i" sound at the end. A Pepsi Cola will be shortened to "Peps" unless one is orders many of them. 

This is a delightful place to learn English again even though I have been speaking it for 59 years. DXers are no strangers to unusual pronunciations and have come to appreciate regional differences. We use a phonetic alphabet to understand and be understood. It is a big world and we are only one of the many billions who live here. Learning to understand and to be understood takes an open mind and a flexible tongue.