Sometime around 2008/9, I was IM chatting with a coworker in Malaysia. Let’s call him Wally. We’d never met but we’d exchanged many emails and IM chats as we both supported some of the same software. English was not Wally’s first language but he did have a good command of the language.

Wally asked if I was an expert in some software that I now forget. I’d worked with whatever-it-was but I wasn’t an expert by any means. So I said “That’s a strong word for it.”

All of a sudden, Wally started falling all over himself apologizing and explaining that he hadn’t meant to offend me. I puzzled over this for a few seconds and then something clicked.

I remembered that Brits sometimes use the word “strong” to euphemize obscene. Instead of saying that a book was filthy and disgusting, they would sometimes say it was strong. I also aware that a lot of folks in Asia get English lessons from Brits. Wally thought that I was telling him that he was swearing at me.

I explained that I’d meant that I knew about the software but wasn’t an expert. I also stressed that he hadn’t offended me. Wally stopped falling all over himself and we continued our conversation.

I often tell folks about the dangers of switching between British and American flavors (flavours) of English. This is another one.