Drop in Anytime: Ambiguous Expressions Invite New Friends

Intercultural

To end conversations, North Americans often issue casual invitations to new acquaintances and even virtual strangers, such as Visit me when you come to New York, or Come on over anytime. However, nonnative speakers and visitors may misinterpret such casual remarks. They may embarrass their hosts and suffer disappointment by taking the offhand invitation literally and acting on it. Psychologists Cushner and Brislin warn: "Those interacting across cultures would be wise to avoid using expressions that have multiple meanings."

Your Task. Assume you are a businessperson engaged in exporting and importing. As such, you are in constant communication with suppliers and customers around the world. In messages sent abroad or in situations with nonnative speakers of English at home, what kinds of ambiguous expressions should you avoid? In teams or individually, list three to five original examples of idioms, slang, acronyms, sports references, abbreviations, jargon, and two-word verbs. Which phrases or behavior could be taken literally by a person from a different culture?