It's really tough to comprehend other cultures. Here's an example - a Guardian (UK) reporter hears Lynn Cheney talk about Kerry, in her home state of Wyoming, and say "When you keep trying to make something look good and it is not so good, you call it putting lipstick on a pig." And the reporter thinks she called Kerry a pig. Which, if you spoke the lingo, she did not.
guardian.co.uk
When you say someone is putting lipstick on a pig, your ultimate meaning is that he is a liar or a fool, or he thinks he can fool you. Things are what they are, and no amount of cosmetics can change that.
Americans, Brits, Canucks, Aussies, and Kiwis all share a common language but we don't really understand each other. Actually, here in America, people who live in different social enclaves can't understand each other. That's what "red state/blue state" is all about. |
