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Phantom English

So you know how sometimes you’ll have phantom phone rings or vibrations. Or in more serious cases phantom pains – for victims who have lost limbs tragically. Well lately I’ve been hearing English randomly on crowded trams & buses. Like the other day – I could have sworn I heard a teenage girl say “OMG you’ve got to be kidding.” The likelihood of me actually hearing this is pretty much slim to none. When I listened in again — it appeared that the group of girls were all speaking Bulgarian.

I guess the only way to explain something “phantom” would be that its something that has a direct impact on you or you’ve sensed (heard/felt) repeatedly. So because I am so used to hearing English my brain is trying to simulate experiences as I would normally hear in the U.S. on a crowded mode of public transit.

I can’t explain it any other way.

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