Customer: “Can you tell me which of the rice you sell here is gluten-free?”
He pronounces it as “glutton-free” but I think I know what he means.
Me: “All of them. Rice is gluten-free. Gluten comes from wheat, rye, and barley.”
Customer: “But this says glutinous rice!”
He pronounces it as “gluttonous” rice.
Me: “Aha, I can see the confusion. That just means that it’s a sticky type of rice. It’s good in some types of desserts.”
Customer: “But it’s still gluttonous?”
Me: “It’s pronounced glutinous, and it’s just a name for it. Some people call it sticky rice. It contains no gluten.”
Customer: “But does it contain gluttony?”
Me: “Sir, gluten is a type of protein found in wheat. Gluttony is… uh… it means to eat too much. Which one are you talking about?”
Customer: Sounding confused. “If it doesn’t contain glutton, then I can eat a lot of it?”
Me: “Okay, so no gluten means you can be a glutton. Got it.”
I finally got to explain to him the difference between the two words. It was quiet so I had time to show him in the dictionary on my phone. He had heard both words for a long time and thought they were basically the same – “they’re both related to food!” – so he was very grateful to learn something new that day!
A Glutton For Knowledge
Customer: “Can you tell me which of the rice you sell here is gluten-free?”
He pronounces it as “glutton-free” but I think I know what he means.
Me: “All of them. Rice is gluten-free. Gluten comes from wheat, rye, and barley.”
Customer: “But this says glutinous rice!”
He pronounces it as “gluttonous” rice.
Me: “Aha, I can see the confusion. That just means that it’s a sticky type of rice. It’s good in some types of desserts.”
Customer: “But it’s still gluttonous?”
Me: “It’s pronounced glutinous, and it’s just a name for it. Some people call it sticky rice. It contains no gluten.”
Customer: “But does it contain gluttony?”
Me: “Sir, gluten is a type of protein found in wheat. Gluttony is… uh… it means to eat too much. Which one are you talking about?”
Customer: Sounding confused. “If it doesn’t contain glutton, then I can eat a lot of it?”
Me: “Okay, so no gluten means you can be a glutton. Got it.”
I finally got to explain to him the difference between the two words. It was quiet so I had time to show him in the dictionary on my phone. He had heard both words for a long time and thought they were basically the same – “they’re both related to food!” – so he was very grateful to learn something new that day!