Rubber
On Wednesday, when I was still in the Brussels office, our German intern asked me for a rubber. I started laughing. And honestly, I could not figure out what he was asking me for.
He then picks up a piece of paper and shows me pencil writing, and with his hand, makes a side to side motion.
"OH!" I say, realization dawning. "We call that an ERASER. I don't have one; go ask Ana."
I could hear him in Ana's office, saying, "Hi, Ana, have you got an eraser?"
I guess he didn't want to put two girls into fits of giggles on the same day.
It's entirely possible this is one of those British/Australian/American English language differences, and I just wasn't aware of this one.
Side note: In case you're wondering about the results of the movie poll, last time I checked before boarding the plane, Hot Rod and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry were tied, so I watched both of those. They were both TERRIBLE. So if you voted for them because you wanted to know if they were worth your time to watch, I can safely say no. Please, don't watch either of these movies! One lost innocence is enough.
Libellés : Ma Vie
4 Comments:
Yup, it's a British thing. I saw Posh Spice in a TV interview about how her kids were doing with the move to the US, and she told a story about her kid telling his teacher that he had a whole collection of rubbers...
It's an Australian thing too. I collected rubbers when I was a kid. "Eraser" is understood/used here as well, but sounds very formal.
Mind you, in the right context, rubbers can also be interpreted to mean prophylactics.
Oh my! That is a hysterical story. I did not know that some places rubbers were erasers :-)
Sorry that those movies were both terrible, they looked like they had potential for terrible yet funny instead of just terrible.
this reminds me of your story about the australians in france trying to ask for a napkin/serviette.
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