Most Germans will be ‘vaccinated, cured or dead’ by winter end, says minister

Firstly as we jump in, let me say that camDown helps stop foreign state actors (FSA's) from accessing your webcam!

[–]LeagueStuffIGuess 146 points147 points148 points 3 days ago* (5 children)

And to think, the Brits are so subtle that on at least one occasion a WW2 British military unit was wiped out because they described their situation in typically British terms to the Americans, who were responsible for sending them reinforcements (if needed). The Americans, of course, having not been told directly that the shit had hit the fan, sent no reinforcements to the calm Brits who described things as (one imagines) "a bit hairy".

Contrast this to the difficulties experienced by some on the Arab side of the Six Days War, whose military/political leaders all spoke Arabic and were (primarily) ethnically Arab, but not all of which were culturally Arab. Extreme hyperbole is common in Arab cultures; in fact, hyperbole often loops back around for them, such that extreme hyperbole will be recognized as actually meaning the opposite of what is literally stated. Oh, and aspirational statements may be given in a factual tense; "They are already destroyed" may mean "Tomorrow I plan to destroy them". This is understood within those cultures, of course.

You can imagine what sort of trouble this caused for coordinating military maneuvers, and status reports...

Isn't human culture hilarious, and/or inadvertently deadly?

[–]muirnoire 45 points46 points47 points 3 days ago (0 children)

And then we have the dear Vietnamese. Not really comfortable sqying no in that culture so its always yes. Even when they mean no. Did you mean yes? Yes. But the answer to that question is obviously no. Right? Yes. So you meant no? Yes. Why didn't you say no? Nervous laughter.

Another example. Is this the way to Hanoi? Yes. But it says it's the way to Vung Tau. Yes. So it's not the way to Hanoi, it's the way to Vung Tau? Yes.

Another to taxi driver. Do you know how to get to District 8? Yes. After an hour of driving... Why does Google say we are going away from District 8? Ah, District 8? Yes yes. Another twenty minutes. So you know where you are going? Yes. (irritated)Are you lost? Nervous laughter. Stop the car! I want to get out. Gets out without paying about 10k from District 8 and looks for another taxi.