I\u2019ve heard it said that the US and British are \u201ctwo Nations separated by a common language\u201d.\u00a0 IMO, that\u2019s pretty close to 100% correct.<\/p>\n
And the results are sometimes absolutely hilarious<\/em>.<\/p>\n What follows I believe to be true.\u00a0 It is a second person account, related to me by someone who claimed to have seen the document in question, many years ago.\u00a0 I do not believe the individual was BSing me.<\/p>\n . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n Scene:\u00a0 a NATO HQ in Europe.\u00a0 A document is being staffed.<\/p>\n The document has a staffing sheet, which identifies who will review the document by name.\u00a0 Those various names are from multiple NATO nations.\u00a0 At least one of them is an American.<\/p>\n The document has already been partially staffed.\u00a0 It has been through some of the NATO national contingents.\u00a0 It is now being staffed through the British contingent.<\/p>\n The document, or one of the sheets attached, has notes in the margin.\u00a0 One of those notes is next to an underlined name – an American name.\u00a0 There is an arrow pointing at the American\u2019s name.<\/p>\n The comment reads as follows (language approximate).<\/p>\n \u201cWe really need this bloke to support our position.\u00a0 Have someone give him a head job.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The words \u201chead job\u201d in that comment is in turn underlined.\u00a0 Immediately below it, in very different handwriting, is the following comment:<\/p>\n \u201cTake care in using this term around our Yank allies.\u00a0 It has, shall we say, a somewhat different meaning to them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In British slang, \u201cgive a head job” means \u201cappeal to their vanity” in order to get them on your side.\u00a0 I don’t think I need to spell out the common American interpretation.<\/p>\n . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n You gotta love that dry British humor \u2013 even when it\u2019s unintentional. \u00a0(smile)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"