[Wright is right!]

Signs in English are always much less colorful than their counterparts in the native tongue. I even remember in college when one of our suite-mates bought a German "gray-market" VW Beetle. His car was easy to spot because, back then, rear turn-signal lenses were the same solid red as brake lights. But HIS Beetle had the European AMBER turn-signal lenses.

It also came with an Owners Manual entirely in German. Since he had taken a lot of German and had absorbed it well, this was no problem - actually, it became an opportunity.

Not too many people sit around reading their Owners Manuals, but he had the German version AND an English version, and he had lots of fun comparing the two. For instance, in a small section on fuel economy, the German manual admonished, "Spielen sie nicht mit dem gaspedal." Translation, "Don't 'play' with the gas pedal." In other words, rev it up at stop lights and you waste gas. The English version was much less colorful. It advised, "Avoid unnecessary engine speeds while waiting your turn to go."

You could cram a large tome with other examples from all languages.

Michael

[supercat]

You could cram a large tome with other examples from all languages. DVD's "multi-language" features can be useful for this as well. Can you guess what DVD might feature songs with notable lyrics "Chez nous... dans nôtre banlieu" [Our home... in our neighborhood], or "Loin de nôtre enfer, je rêve de faire, un petit nid vert." [Far from our hell, I dream of building, a little green nest]?