Multicultural Manners : When English Isn’t Plain Enough

After recently leaving Cape Town, South Africa, Irene feels fortunate to have landed a job in a legal firm. One day, her boss asks, “Can you work on this report?”

Irene answers: “I’ll do it just now.”

But when he returns 10 minutes later and asks for the report, she is puzzled by his question and he doesn’t understand why it isn’t ready.

What went wrong?

Even though Irene’s native language was English, she used South African idioms. In South Africa, to do something “just now” means you will do it later. To Americans, it means you will do it right away.

Irene ran into other communication stalemates. While shopping, Irene asked for directions to the “ladies,” South African for “ladies restroom,” and was sent to ladies lingerie.

Rule: Idioms cause confusion, even for those who seem to speak the same language.