Every so often life gives you a good laugh just when you need one. Today is one such day.
A Chinese ( PRC ) friend of mine at work went to some big box store and bought a t-shirt on clearance. She wore it to work today for casual Friday.
She speaks excellent English, not a trace of “Engrish” . However, aside from work she doesn’t interact with Americans much. She has a small daughter at home to take care of. She doesn’t know the culture or the nuances of American slang very well.
She came into my office today to ask me if her t-shirt meant “a bad thing”. It was a white t-shirt with a cartoon of a baby cow with devil’s horns, a licentious facial expression and the text
“Little Miss Naughty”
across the chest.
I told my friend to close the door to my office.
Then I explained to her what the slang meaning of “naughty” in American English is. I did it with a straight face and offered to lend her a company shirt I still had in the package on my shelf. She was ten minutes away from going out to lunch. She had a look of horror on her face.
Once she was out of my office and back on her side of the floor I closed my office door before having the best laugh I’ve had all week.
