Accosted
A co-worker and I were sitting on a park bench on a sunny afternoon in Prague recently, having a conversation and generally minding our own business, when an older gentleman walked up to us and asked (VERY politely in heavily accented but impeccable english) if he could possibly interrupt us for a minute. He explained that he's had a translation question on his mind and, being a precise sort of person, he would like to ask a native speaker exactly how to say this one thing.Now, this did strike me as an excuse for him to engage in a conversation with an animate being who might actually talk back. But I am the person who spent years (pre-google) tracking down why the abbreviation for Switzerland is "CH" rather than "SW" or any other much more sensible thing, so I can appreciate the tantalizing hope of finally answering one of life's mysterious questions. So I smiled and nodded encouragingly only to have to try DESPERATELY to not turn purple with suppressed laughter when he finally got the question out:
"What exactly do you call the hill that ants build and live in?"
posted by bazilsmom @ 12:49 PM
