Hi kumar_rangan; (OT) Re English and it's understanding.
For some time, me and a friend attended late night auctions to buy antique furniture. Our tactic was not to buy what we wanted, but instead to wait around and buy stuff that was ridiculously cheap and that no one else wanted. Of course I was nervous sitting in a crowd of experienced auction goers as there are lots of complicated rules.
When I was the winning bid on a piece, the auctioneer, who is very busy, announced my number, ending the auction, and then said "Goodbye". Someone was always leaving the room so I assumed that he was politely talking to a friend.
When it happened again, and I was sure that he was looking right at me, I concluded that he was suggesting that I was doing something unfair, and should perhaps leave, and so I put on that look of innocence, shame and surprise that one gets when one realizes that one has accidentally trespassed on a rule that one was unaware of. Auctions are more complicated than they look.
It was only after it happened a third time that I realized that what he was saying all along was "Good buy".
-- Carl@IwasbornheresoIdonthaveanyexcuses.com
P.S. By the way, I think auctions are good training for stock trading. It teaches you to "buy low". |
