They say the pun is the lowest form of humor. If that is the case, my travel partner Randal and I have been wallowing in the gutter ever since we discovered that the Khmer word for temple, thus used throughout Thailand and Cambodia, is Wat. I know you see where this is going, but I’ll nudge you along, just because I’ve had a couple weeks of practice and, let’s face it, wallowing is fun.
When traveling and passing one of myriad temples, signs for temples, outlines of temples on the horizon: “Wat’s that?”
“Wat?”
“That.”
“Wat.”
“Right over there, with the spires and decorated roof line.”
“It’s a wat.”
“That’s wat I’m asking. Wat do you think it is?”
“Wat do you think I’m saying?”
“Wait, wat?”
“Exactly.”
“Say wat?”
“WAT!”
“Huh?”
“Wat, are you deaf, or just slow?”
You get the Abbott and Costello idea. Even more amusing when the cab driver gets involved and tries to help.
The list goes on: “Wat are we doing today? Wat’s next? Wat time? Wat will we see there?” Especially fun when the specific wat has a name that we can run with, like the below mentioned Wat Po, which can be slurred into sounding like What For, or What Fo’. See what you can do with that one. Fun, isn’t it?
