Lost in Translation #Travel Linkup

My first ever experience of foreign languages was Japanese in high school. It was also my first embarrassing experience of something getting lost in translation...or pronunciation.

Our school was playing host to Japanese exchange students and we were all crammed into the teachers lounge meeting and getting to know each other, the girls on one side, boys on the other, as you do in awkward teen years, when one of the girls asked me if I liked guys "with led back". I didn't quite get that, but after she repeated herself a couple of times, I was like "Ohhhh! Guys who are laid back!" to which she nodded, yeah. It was a bit of an odd question but I said sure, I liked guys who are laid back. I swear her face lit up and she gave me the biggest smile before running off to another student...a tall Japanese boy with a red bag....

Since moving to London, Ive come across a few words which can cause a bit of confusion. The most common one you're likely to hear about is 'pants'. Pants in the UK mean underpants/knickers/panties whatever you want to call em. In Australia they mean trousers. Ive lost count of the number of times I've said 'pants' meaning trousers and gotten funny looks from people here.

Then there is the less common 'pull'. A friend of mine was chatting with a colleague at work and asked him if he pulled a girl. I was shocked! I was thinking 'How rude! Why would he pull a girl? That's not very nice!' Before I jumped in on my high horse to say just how rude and disrespectful he was and that women should not be manhandled, my friend saw the look on my face and quickly explained that 'pulling' meant chatting up a girl. Thankfully she had the grace to laugh at me only for the rest of the afternoon.

As an Aussie, I have been in the position of confusing others too. Bludger, dag, mozzie, Maccas and arvo just to name a few. Can you guess what they are?

When travelling, I'm always amused to see how English is used and it can provide a few giggles. Japan has been the oddest, all the above photos are from there, but I did spot an interesting store name in Brussels recently.

Do you have your own "Lost in translation" story to tell? I'm so excited to be guest hosting this months blog link up with lovely Kiwi trio Emma, Kelly and Rebecca. Why not join in and have a laugh? Details below!

An InLinkz Link-up