"Escargot without a house." - Swiss Brother who was trying to think of the word "slug"
"So, what does it mean when another guy starts holding your hand?" - Paul, as we walked through a village. We then noticed he was holding hands with our male guide. (It means nothing except friendship here)
"She is walking her feet so they don't get tired from sitting." - Kituba-speaking woman, explaining why we were just going for a walk in the countryside.
"Hello together. Goodbye together." - Swiss lady who took Kituba/Lingala greeting of "Mbote na bano" and directly translated it to English, "Hello to everyone"
"The bladder is taking a voyage away from the uterus." - English translation of how I used the few French words I know to describe why I am making a bladder flap during a cesarean section.
"Change your pants." - The Congolese doctors in the OR telling me to use a different instrument, mixing English with the French word for clamp, which sounds like pance but is spelled pince.
"My God is your God and your God is my God."- song in English and sung by the Congolese about the community. Then continuing with, "my child is your child and your child is my child." And then going overboard by making up a third verse, "my wife is your wife..." Yeah, that one didn't work.
"It has been 2 days since my last Kwilu" - my confession after I had to shower instead of bathe in the river.
"Just a minute, I need to put my shoes AND socks back on." - Oregonian Tim who found it necessary to become BAREFOOT while eating in a nice restaurant here in Kinshasa. He's a missionary kid already!
"Hommes" - prominent sign on the men's outhouse. Saying "my homie" takes on a whole new meaning when it seems you are talking about a men's restroom. It really is pronounced, "ohm," much to my disappointment, and simply means "man" in French.
"Yes, yes." - good natured Congolese Dr. Joseph in answer to an obsurd question like "Are you female?" This would cause peals of laughter in his friends who knew he was faking his English more often than not.
"You are speaking Congolese English" - Congolese OR personnel, when trying to insult their friends. They were talking about the differences between British English and American English when I piped up, joking, and said, "Yes, and you speak Congolese English." They took that and ran with it. So when anyone was having difficulty with their English, they would taunt, "he/she speaks Congolese English," or if really rudimentary, "he/she speaks Vanga English."
"Friedhelm, try English." - our team to poor Dr. Friedhelm, the German Brother, who would oftentimes change from Kituba to German to French when addressing us.
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