To all:
Please be very careful if you aren't fluent in another language.
Small mistakes in spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. can make a big difference in what it means in a language other than English. Direct translations can cause big problems.
I only do Spanish, other than English, but can offer a couple of examples.
(E)"You're from the other side"
(S)"You're a homosexual"
(E)"I like him"
(S)"I'm a homosexual, and like him"
When I lived on the horse ranch, a nice old Mexican gentleman worked there. The girls, thinking they were being endearing to him, started calling him papa for about a month...a potato. (Papa can also mean Papa or Pope, depending on how it's used)
One of them asked him if he'd like to see her new car, using a Spanish word that she thought meant car, although it meant her most private parts. (He came running to me with his face scarlet red, wanting to know what was going on)
I'm sure we don't want to offend or insult anyone because of our lack of knowledge of their language.
Please be careful...S
