My father in law traveled the world on business. He said the two phrases he always learned were "I have money" and "My firm will pay". Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Brust" <skzb at dreamcafe.com> To: "Philip Hart" <philiph at slac.stanford.edu> Cc: "Dragaera List" <dragaera at dragaera.info> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 12:01 PM Subject: Re: A Linguistic Note > I have long believed that the one phrase an American needs to learn when > visiting a foreign country is, "I do not speak your language. I am > Canadian." > > On Tue, 2004-12-14 at 13:22, Philip Hart wrote: > > Noted in part because the idea has a vaguely Vladiad feel: > > > > Some years ago, one Ethan Mollick created the I Can Eat Glass Project, > > which he described thus: > > > > The Project is based on the idea that people in a foreign country have > > an irresistable urge to try to say something in the indigenous tongue. > > In most cases, however, the best a person can do is "Where is the > > bathroom?" a phrase that marks them as a tourist. But, if one says > > "I can eat glass, it doesn't hurt me," you will be viewed as an insane > > native, and treated with dignity and respect. > > > > http://www.geocities.com/nodotus/hbglass.html > > > >