Not saying what you mean

Occasionally I've heard people talk about miscommunication that can occur when westerners do business with eastern cultures. This revolves around an eastern concept of politeness. Easterners will avoid saying "no" or directly disagreeing with someone, not because they agree but because they want to avoid rudeness. Westerners think they are too straightforward for that sort of thing. Er, perhaps not. Here's a 15 point guide to what people really mean. Well, in the UK, at least.

If you know the phrase "Up to a point, Lord Copper" then you'll know what I'm talking about. If you don't, never mind, but it's from a book by Evelyn Waugh (and Evelyn was a chap).

Geographical epiphanies

I was reading about Slope Point, the bottom end of New Zealand's mainland. Their peculiar wind-battered trees are worth a look.

But what really caught my eye was the distance sign. I thought that New Zealand was quite a long way south, but almost all of it is nearer to the equator than it is to the south pole. Antarctica and the southern ocean are extraordinarily large. Britain is further north that New Zealand is south.

Cape Horn is further south than New Zealand, but the Scottish mainland extends further north than Cape Horn does south.