Do you agree or disagree? Words can often get us into trouble. Use examples and reasons to support and develop your argument.
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Can words get us into trouble? Definitely, especially today when everybody all over the world is on Facebook. From my experience, the trouble begins when a simple English word is mistranslated or used in the wrong context.
For example, the other day I was chatting with a new friend on Facebook. She's from China so we both spoke English. We were talking about food and I told her I loved dates. She suddenly got upset because she thought I had asked her for a date, you know, going to a movie or something. She was upset because she was religious and married. But then I had to explain that I didn't want a date. Instead, I loved the fruit which in English is called dates. She understood but after that things were never quite the same. All that because of one simple word like date.
Also, I can remember when me and my best friend Jose were in a restaurant. A waiter walked by and Jose said to the waiter, "Excuse me. Can I get a bowel?" The waiter was totally discombobulated. "A bowel?" he said to Jose. "Yeah," Jose replied. "You know, like a soup bowel." The waiter smiled and said, "You mean bowl. Right. I'll get you one." The waiter went and got Jose a bowl, but Jose was still miffed. I told him, "Bowel means your stomach. That is why the waiter was confused. He thought you ordered a stomach." Jose thought that was pretty funny. So did I. But imagine if a wrong word were part of a big business deal. It could cost a company billions.
As you can see, a simple word mistranslated or used in the wrong context can really blow up in your face. What should you do? Look before you leap.
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ETS says an independent essay should be around 300 words. This essay is exactly 300 words.
The Pro
© Bruce Stirling 2011
