Popular Post Dick Turpin Posted January 24, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 24, 2023 1 23 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted January 24, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2023 15 hours ago, PhilJ W said: Undoubtedly true! Customers, pah! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post The Sled Posted January 24, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 24, 2023 2 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said: Reminds me of a very attractive German women I once met on holiday. She told me she was a catering manager for Lufthansa. Maybe it was the noisy bar, or the pronunciation, or the drink, or how I was feeling. But for some strange reason I thought she was saying "Lust Hansa". Which has quite a different meaning. She had the grace to laugh when I looked confused and said "Lusthansa?" Lost in translation. Reminds me of a Dutch lady I worked with many years ago. She came to England in her late teens to marry an Englishman who she had fallen in love with while he was working in the Netherlands. Unfortunately her command of the English language was not very good, so the first meeting with her future in-laws was a little difficult for her, she being able to discern only a word here and there as the conversation flowed rapidly. To add to her discomfort, her fiance was the son of a vicar and she felt somewhat nervous, desperate as she was to make a good impression. However, at some point the conversation drifted onto the subject of dogs. Now this was something she knew quite a lot about, as her parents had bred dogs for many years, so she felt confident she could safely join in the conversation at this point without making a fool of herself. However, the problem was she didn't know the English verb for "to breed." Undaunted, she remembered a trick she had learnt at school for converting Dutch verbs into English, and so confidently translated the Dutch "Mijn familie fokt hounden" into "My family f**k dogs!" Apparently her sudden interjection didn't fuel the flow of conversation so much as stop it dead in its tracks! 1 23 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 My father knew two boys who went to Germany on an exchange visit. One boy forgot his hairbrush ("haarburste") and wanted to go into a shop to buy one. "Just be careful what you ask for," his friend replied. The boy went into the shop and came out looking embarrassed. "What happened?" "I've just asked a very large woman if she had a hairy chest." ("haartebrust") 1 15 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted January 24, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2023 44 minutes ago, RJS1977 said: My father knew two boys who went to Germany on an exchange visit. One boy forgot his hairbrush ("haarburste") and wanted to go into a shop to buy one. "Just be careful what you ask for," his friend replied. The boy went into the shop and came out looking embarrassed. "What happened?" "I've just asked a very large woman if she had a hairy chest." ("haartebrust") Lucky not to have a black eye. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted January 24, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2023 7 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 7 hours ago, PhilJ W said: All it means is that your password is really weak. And that fingerprint security is useless if your hand is available even if you're sleeping... 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronL Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 8 hours ago, PhilJ W said: She could even be following you on RMweb. Don't boast about buying any new engines! 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimboBrit Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 15 hours ago, The Sled said: Reminds me of a Dutch lady I worked with many years ago. She came to England in her late teens to marry an Englishman who she had fallen in love with while he was working in the Netherlands. Unfortunately her command of the English language was not very good, so the first meeting with her future in-laws was a little difficult for her, she being able to discern only a word here and there as the conversation flowed rapidly. To add to her discomfort, her fiance was the son of a vicar and she felt somewhat nervous, desperate as she was to make a good impression. However, at some point the conversation drifted onto the subject of dogs. Now this was something she knew quite a lot about, as her parents had bred dogs for many years, so she felt confident she could safely join in the conversation at this point without making a fool of herself. However, the problem was she didn't know the English verb for "to breed." Undaunted, she remembered a trick she had learnt at school for converting Dutch verbs into English, and so confidently translated the Dutch "Mijn familie fokt hounden" into "My family f**k dogs!" Apparently her sudden interjection didn't fuel the flow of conversation so much as stop it dead in its tracks! My sister-in-law was married to a chap who started his career in the Dutch merchant navy. During this period he gained his "Vaardiploma" or sailing diploma. After leaving the merchant navy he was once a guest at dinner with a family in the UK. During the conversation he commented "I got my VD when I was in the merchant navy". The reaction at the table was not what he expected. 1 17 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CameronL Posted January 25, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 25, 2023 It doesn't need a foreign language to cause cultural problems. I used to work for the UK subsidiary of a US IT company, and the big boys in Boston decided that what we really needed was an American Sales Director. As the company dealt at the very top level of major organisations, at management meetings there would be some fairly sharp intellects round the conference table. Before the serious business started there would be a bit of banter and he would sit there looking totally baffled at the ironic humour. As he was not a popular character (we suspected he did cocaine in his office) a competition soon started among the other managers to see who could get the biggest look of glassy-eyed confusion on his face. Our Consultancy Manager was a defrocked barrister with a razor-sharp wit, and regularly won. Apart from his little snow habit he was a real American Supremacist, and was always going on about the things from the US which had crept across the pond. At one meeting he reeled off a long list of US products and organisations which were a part of British life. Our ex-barrister put the hems on that by saying "Yes, and you sent us drive-by shootings as well." He once said he'd seen WWE wrestling on the TV - another US import to British culture. In another of those "mouth ignoring brain" moments I replied "Yes, and there's probably about eight people in the country who think it's actually a sport." He really struggled with European pronunciation. One day he said he'd taken his girlfriend to see Warwick Castle, which he pronounced "War-wick" rather than "Worrick". He also said he'd booked a holiday in The Loire valley in France, which he said as "Loy-ree." Sometimes it was hard to keep a straight face. Eventually the top bods realised what a liability he was and promoted him. This might sound odd, but to go from Sales Director responsible for the sales team to Director Of Special Projects responsible for a flip chart and some marker pens is a way of saying "Your career here is over." Some wag anonymously sent him a "Congratulations on Your New Job" card with a scarf to help him keep warm as he could probably feel the cold draught from the Exit door. Nobody ever found out who it was. 2 1 16 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Surely its safe to break cover now? 🤪 1 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Dick Turpin Posted January 25, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 25, 2023 4 17 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 4 hours ago, CameronL said: Director Of Special Projects I know a few former colleagues who've passed by that desk on their way to new employment..... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronL Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 4 hours ago, Hroth said: Surely its safe to break cover now? 🤪 I throw myself on the mercy of the court. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) 25 minutes ago, CameronL said: I throw myself on the mercy of the court. Given the nature of the alleged offence, I don't think you have cause for concern! However, IANAL... Edited January 25, 2023 by Hroth Get out clause... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium J. S. Bach Posted January 25, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2023 6 hours ago, CameronL said: ...snip... One day he said he'd taken his girlfriend to see Warwick Castle, which he pronounced "War-wick" ...snip... That is the way that I would have pronounced it too. My Dad was born/raised in West Warwick, RI and that is how he pronounced it, too. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted January 25, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2023 American pronounciations are often somewhat different to British. A friend and I watch NFL games on the NFL app on XBox, and often are intrigued as to how various peoples' names, various cities, etc are pronounced compared to how we would pronounce them. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronL Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 20 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said: That is the way that I would have pronounced it too. My Dad was born/raised in West Warwick, RI and that is how he pronounced it, too. 1 minute ago, Ian J. said: American pronounciations are often somewhat different to British. A friend and I watch NFL games on the NFL app on XBox, and often are intrigued as to how various peoples' names, various cities, etc are pronounced compared to how we would pronounce them. Wasn't it George Bernard Shaw who said that Britain and the US are "two nations separated by a common language"? 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2750Papyrus Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 My last employment was with a small UK subsidiary of a large US company. My colleague and I found amusement in some of the names of our US colleagues, the best of which was "Randy Spangle". We had to explain that to our US MD! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) Donald Trump has admitted he has a classified drawing at home. He will hand it over to the Feds but only when he's finished colouring it in. Edited January 31, 2023 by NIK 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronL Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 2 hours ago, 2750Papyrus said: Randy Spangle We had a "Buddy Geronimo". 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanley Melrose Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 I was at a conference many years ago when one of the American speakers was Cherry Pancake. At Ford's Dagenham Plant in the 1960s, Len Plum admitted he had called his daughter Victoria but best of all, the headmaster of the school my kids went to called one of his sons Nicholas Hoare. Cheers, Stan 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted January 25, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2023 I had a colleague named Richard Head. 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted January 25, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2023 15 minutes ago, PhilJ W said: I had a colleague named Richard Head. Me too... And sadly he lived up to his name..... Train + level crossing gate = Lots of matchsticks + no job. Andy G 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold CHAZ D Posted January 25, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 25, 2023 Worked with a guy called Richard Everard he was as soft as sh!t 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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