L and R

And I don't mean left and right. It's the strange habit of switching the "L" and "R" that Far East Asians seem to have.

The other week I was in the local takeaway shop and got excited at the chance for a feed of felafel only to be told, by the Chinese woman behind the counter, that they had "lun out". In a joking manner I tried to get the lady to say "run". Nope she couldn't pick up the difference. So we tried "ring" as I repeatedly rung the counter's bell - much to my brother's amusement. "Ring the bell." of course came out as "Ling the bell." "Ring"? "Ling"! It was very funny and she took it on good humour. I ended up without felafel and just had chips.

And it's not only when spoken. Just a couple of days ago I hit the local Asian food warehouse, which is a treasure trove of everything from the Middle East through to Japan, only to find that the miso soup instructions said to "... stir gentry until ..." Stir gentry? Am I supposed to add some of the upper class to the soup? Is this a recipe for proletarian revenge?