I grew up with this common saying, “Three things you don’t talk about: politics, religion or money.”
“Not even political jokes,” I’d now like to add.
My first interpreting assignment here in the UK, as a third year BA student in 1979, was up in Accrington (north of Manchester), looking after four mainland Chinese from Nantong 南通, near Shanghai.
Their factory had bought some textile machinery from a firm in Accrington, Lancashire (an area in NW England known for its textile industry).
Although their contract said the British firm would fix any breakdowns, the Chinese were very forward-thinking and asked to come over and be trained on fixing minor problems themselves, because by the time they got in touch with the British firm (they’d have to find an interpreter first, and ring the British side during UK working hours as well, a bit tricky in the timing, given the time difference), identified the problem and the right engineer was found, a visa was obtained, an air ticket was bought, etc, their factory would have lost precious production days.
Outside of the training sessions, the British side would always have someone eat lunch at the factory with them, sometimes even dinner at the hotel.
One day, to lighten the atmosphere, the Brit who was in attendance told a joke:
In East Germany, a Trabant was speeding down the autobahn at way past the limit. The highway police gave chase. When they did eventually manage to catch up, they asked the driver, “How does this car go so fast?” The driver said, “The front wheels are made by the Russians, the rear wheels by the Chinese.”
Silence from the Chinese delegates, then a sort of nasal noises that were meant to resemble polite laughter emanated hesitantly.
(Accrington, Lancashire, England, 1979)
Dictionary definition of a damp squib:
A situation or event which is much less impressive than expected.
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