YOUR QUESTION

05/09/2020 8:34:38 Jo (again)

As someone who travels widely, have you ever been caught out by embarrassing mis-translations, or by words that have wildly differently meanings in different countries? As a British student visiting friends in Detroit many years ago, I quickly learned that asking whether I might "bum a fag" was not the most acceptable way to ask for a cigarette; just as my American colleague found that complaining that her aeroplane seat was "too small for her enormous fanny" was met with gasps of horror in the UK. Have you ever made any similar faux pas while travelling?

MY ANSWER

Hahaha, “fanny” is worse than “cunt” in the UK? What typically happens to me is I start trying to speak the language of the last country I was in, so I’ll end up saying “Si” to a German, and “Tak” to Dutchie….