You can get in more trouble around the world than you think with English.

Here are the answers.

1. American for 'rubber'. Eraser. Guess what happened when the earnest young Swiss exchange worker asked the nice Southern lady in the office for a rubber? 'I don't want to make a mistake,' he said….
2. The English term for the German word 'Handy'. Mobile. Or 'cell phone' in the US. Well, it is handy….
3. What US 'suspenders' are called in England. Braces. The amount of fun you can have in a pub with Yanks and Brits in….
4. What a Frenchwoman means when she says you look chic in your 'smoking'. You're wearing a tuxedo. The name's Bond….
5. What you're buying in an Italian shop when you ask for an Eskimo. A parka. Don't try that in Iqaluit.
6. What you get when you ask for a 'trombone' in a French office. A paperclip. Note to self: ask Superfrenchie if that's what the infamous Microsoft paperclip was called.
7. If someone in Japan tells you he's a 'salaryman', what does he mean? He's a white-collar worker. Makes sense.
8. What a German has when he offers to show you his 'bodybag'. A messenger bag. It's chic, and he doesn't know why you're looking at him like that.
9. Why is Monday called wajintayi in Gurindji? Because it's 'washing day'. When do you do your laundry?
10. In Italian, you're an 'autostoppista'. What are you in English? A hitchhiker. An Italian astronaut has already read the Hitchhiker's Guide in space, so we know we go everywhere.

This has been a service of the h2g2 Post Linguistics Department. English: use with caution.

My hovercraft is full of eels.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

20.08.18 Front Page

Back Issue Page