Stuff you can't make up.

 I'm in college and living in an apartment on campus. Two of my three roommates are international students so there are a lot of interesting conversations about English word and phrase usage. Last night, while cleaning up my room, I overheard a conversation between my two foreign roommates about the connotations of the words wish and hope: 

Roommate 1: Wish is always negative and hope is always positive.

Roommate 2: Uh-huh

Me: giggle snort in disbelief.

Roommate 1: Like saying I wish I could do something means that you can't do it.

Me: ok, sounds reasonable and is a true usage.

Roommate 2: Ohhhh

Roommate 1: Yeah, and hope is always good. So saying you wish someone's child grows up without sickness is saying you want that kid to get sick. (Very much so paraphrased)

Me: Trying desperately not to laugh my ass off right about now.

Roommate 2: Uh-huh

 

Basically, I couldn't compose my self enough to contradict what he said and I had to hide in my room because I was laughing so hard. May I iterate for those of you who might now be rather fuzzy on the usage and cultural meaning of wish and hope that this above example and explanation are mostly false. Wish can have a negative connotation but is purely based on usage. For example, using the phrase "Yeah, I wish," or "You wish" are typically negative because of the sarcastic tone that often accompanies these phrases: just like "In your dreams"or "Not a chance" etcetera. In the case above, the use of wish in the instance of saying that one wishes good health for a child is, of course, only negative if accompanied by sarcastic body language or a sarcastic tone of voice. Most english words can be made negative in the same way. Just be careful out there and be sure to talk to native English speakers in the country you live in as well as people that speak your language and have spoken English and lived in an English speaking country for a long time: like at least 5 or 6 years.