[wannabee]

It's funny how common sayings in one area are completely unknown in another. I once befriended a Polish emigrant to Australia.

Well . . . in Australia it's not uncommon to call someone you think you know well an old bastard. In fact you can join a club called The Order of Old Bastards that raises money for charity, but I digress.

In Australia someone who is being uncooperative or going against the regular way of doing something and annoying the other would most likely get called a ratbag.

While bathing at the beach Vwativslav ,or "Wally" which is what I called him, came out of the surf picked up his sand filled towel and shook it out so that the wind blew the sand all over us. That is a big no-no in Australian beach protocol.

I said " Don't be a ratbag you old bastard" and he said "What! You call me a bag of rats!"

We could see he was really offended but had to stop rolling around on the ground laughing at his being offended at a well known Australian slur long enough to explain to him that it wasn't as offensive as he thought.

We were later taught a few Polish slurs.

I am hoping to hear from others that have had similar misunderstandings with embarrassing or funny results because of cross culture differences.