One of the most common expressions you will hear in Georgia is ‘Vieme!’ It is an expression of surprise, of curiosity, of alarm, of fear, of pain, of delight, of excitement, of disbelief, of wonder. It can mean so many things. I hear it a lot when I go for walks. This evening, a security guard outside my supermarket shouted it just before he ran inside and locked the door. I didn’t mean to scare him but he said something to the tall person in a voice I didn’t like so I barked at him. The tall person later told me that the security guard thought I would scare customers so he had asked tall person and me to move. Ha, you were the one that moved Mr. Brave ‘Security’ Person!
You don’t see many dogs of my size and my type walking in the streets so people are often surprised when they see me. Almost everyone will use the ‘vieme’ expression and I have to try to figure out what they mean. If they are scared I don’t want to frighten them by going closer. If they are excited to see me I will let them come near and pet me. If they also use the word ‘lamazi’ I know they think I am beautiful and I will curl up my tail and hold my head high and try to deserve their compliment! This evening I received lots of compliments – ‘Vieme!’
