More Cultural Usages
The current Cultural Usage of Cadaver reminds me of a long ago incident. I lived in Santiago de Chile and I was trying for a job at ECLA/CEPAL (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America). One part of the process was an interview with the Human Resources manager, a Spaniard, I think a Manchego. We chatted and he asked questions. When it came to why I wanted to work in Chile I came out with a comment about supporting a family which I sadly translated wrong as "soportar una familia". His eyebrows rose and it occurred to me that he had heard it as "put up with" a family. Ouch! But later on he told me in great detail about living in Brighton for quite a long time to "perfect" his English. Clearly he didn't so I reckoned it was a draw. How many more howlers like this can we be guilty of when communicating across the two languages? Any suggestions folks?
