Monday, April 28, 2008

A conversation with two colleagues, one from the UK, another from South Africa

Me: "Abu Dhabi really needs a diner."

UK fellow: "Doesn't it mean antelope?"

Me: "Umm, a place where you can get bacon and eggs and toast?" (On second thought, the best I could hope for would probably just be eggs and toast.)

UK fellow simply sports a confused facial expression.

South African fellow: "Oh, she's speaking Canadian."

They thought I said Abu Dhabi "means" a diner. Which it doesn't, obviously. It's Arabic for "Father of the Gazelle", because in 1961 a hunting party came here and tracked a gazelle to a spring.

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