Nuffnang

Sunday, January 20, 2013

All Chewed up



Does your office mate chomp on his pencils from 9 to 5? Some experts might say that he become “ stuck” in this oral phrase of life, that he never found a more mature way to soothe himself and that he continues to chew on his shirt collar, toothpicks, and chunks of paper because he needs this kind of soothing to get through his day.

Now, if you happen to be very close to someone who chews on everything in sight, you might try explaining this concept to him and suggest other ways for him to deal with stress. The problem is that an adult chewer is very set in his ways and he can't really avoid the very thing that he relies on.  His mouth is always right there, after all. If you can get a pencil chewer to switch to gum, that's an acceptable compromise. 

So no one really chews on his own gums, but lots of people chew on their own lips, tongue, and the insides of their cheeks. If you're not one of these people, you might be wondering why anyone would do such a things – doesn't it hurt? Probably not. Chewing on the mouth is usually a way to relieve stress or boredom. Most people don't bite themselves hard enough to cause any harm, though in times of extreme upset, a person might accidentally bite down harder than he intended and draw blood. 


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Handy Ways to Get in Trouble


Because the hands are so highly visible and because they do so much “talking” they get a lot of attention. They might help you make some foreign friends, or they might toss you into international hot water. Consider the potential for trouble in these situations:

  • You’re meeting with a Japanese client. You hand him your business card. He looks taken aback. Why?
  • You walk into an English pub and order two pints. The barkeep boots you out into the street. What have you done?
  • You’re vacationing in Greece, watching the women on the beach. You give one particularly beautiful lady the thumps-up sign. She grasps, grabs her boyfriend, and two of them begin marching in your direction. Do they want to make your acquaintance, or should you start running?
  • In Brazil, your pedicurist wants to know if she’s done a pleasing job on your toes. You’re on your phone, so you give her the symbol to indicate, “Okay.” She bursts into tears. Was she hoping for a thumbs-up sign?
You’ve just offended four lovely people without realizing it. Your errors were:
  • With the Japanese businessman, perhaps you flippantly tossed the card his way. The Japanese usually pass business cards with both hands. When they accept them, it’s also with both hands, and they treat them as though they’re a gift.
  • In the pub, you made the mistake of ordering by holding up two fingers with your palm facing towards you. This is an insult, akin to flashing your middle finger, so it’s no wonder you were bounced out into the night.
  • Your intended friendly gesture on the beach carried just the opposite message; thumbs-up means “Up yours!” in Greece (and in Western Africa, South America, Iran, Russia, and Sardinia).
  • In Brazil (and Greece, Turkey, Italy, and Russia), the sign Americans use to mean “Okay” is actually a grave insult. Better start gushing about how your toes have never looked better, or this girl might never return to the salon.
Are all of your favourite hand signals off limits overseas? Of course not! You can walk around London and Paris all day long flashing people the thumbs-up sign. They may find you highly irritating, but no one’s likely to take great offense at your gesture.