Two anthropologists fly to the…
Two anthropologists fly to the south sea islands to study the natives. They go to two adjacent islands and set to work. A few months later one of them takes a canoe over to the other island to see how his colleague is doing. When he gets there, he finds the other anthropologist standing among a group of natives.”Greetings! How is it going?” says the visiting anthropologist.”Wonderful!” says the other, “I have discovered an important fact about the local language! Watch!”He points at a palm tree and says, “what is that?”The natives, in unison, say “Umbalo-gong!”He then points at a rock and says, “and that?”The natives again intone “Umbalo-gong!””You see!”, says the beaming anthropologist, “They use the SAME word for ‘rock’ and for ‘palm tree’!””That is truly amazing!” says the astonished visiting anthropologist, “On the other island, the same word means ‘ind ex finger’!”
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