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Be careful of hand gestures
One hand gesture that I see quite often is the one shown to the right of this post. BEWARE! In many many countries showing the V sign with your fingernails pointing outwards means ‘up your bum’ or...
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Pants (UK), pants (US), pants (mathematical) and a pile of pants
Another potential for embarrassment between US and UK English In the US pants are worn outside your underwear: In many parts in the UK pants ARE your underwear: So, it may be inadvisable to say ‘ooh...
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When Pronunciation Changes
Error is the engine of language change, and today’s mistake could be tomorrow’s vigorously defended norm. There are lots of wonderful examples of alternative pronunciations or missteps that have become...
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Football, Soccer or Rugby?
Wikipedia states the following : Where English is a first language the unqualified use of the word football is used to refer to the most popular code of football in that region. The sports most...
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Different words for cleanse-tone-moisturise across cultures
I find it interesting how different countries use different terms for that cleanse-tone-moisturise thing we (should) do twice a day: In the US it tends to be called a regimen or a regime In the UK it...
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The Union Jack
‘The Union Jack’ is the popular name of the national flag of the United Kingdom. What’s the flag actually called? It’s the Union Jack of course. Pause for an intake of breath amongst purists; “No,...
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Where does Halloween come from?
Halloween has evolved and been influenced by a number of different cultures and religions, the most important of which are paganism, the Romans, the Celts (the people of Ireland, Scotland, Britain,...
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Poppy Day
From Wikipedia: Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries to remember the members of their armed forces who have...
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Why is a beanie hat called that?
The cloth covered button on the crown is about the size of a bean seed and may be the origin of the term “beanie” Some academics believe that the term is instead derived from a type of headgear worn...
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Lost in Translation Part 1
English may be international, but it certainly is not multi-cultural, if these product names are anything to go by! I find this one really funny because it is fish. Nope, not going to explain why!
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Clever people say stupid things too
Everything that can be invented has been invented. Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the US Patent Office, in 1899. I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. Thomas J. Watson Snr, IBM...
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Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux
In class last week I was talking with students about how branding sometimes goes wrong. An example was the ‘Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux’ slogan which was an example of bad timing. The slogan came out...
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South African English
CLASSIFICATION: Family: Indo-European Group: Germanic Subgroup: West Germanic VARIETIES: Black South African English, Indian English, Coloured English, Afrikaans English – variants of South African...
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Planes with no Row 13 and hotels with no Floor 13
Planes AirFrance, Iberia, Ryanair, AirTran, Continental, Air New Zealand, Lufthansa, and Alaska Airlines (but only on their Boeing 737-800′s) do not have a row 13. I first spoke with Jennifer Janzen,...
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UKIP faux pas – you have to love Twitter, Facebook and Wikipedia
UKIP thought that Westminster Cathedral (the seat of the Catholic Church in the UK) was a mosque. Hahaha! Jokers immediately edited Wikipedia entries on Westminster Cathedral to clarify that it is...
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Rob Gonsalves
This talented and prolific Canadian painter uses acrylic on canvas. See more of his work here. I can lose myself in his art for ages. I actually prefer him to the Dalí I was so passionate about,...
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