Top 10 intercultural blunders of 2011
Chicago Sun-Times, Keith Hale/Associated Press
In June, when Australian morning news anchor Karl Stefanovic had the enviable opportunity to interview the Dalai Lama, he good-naturedly shared a joke about his guest. Unfortunately, the joke fell flat because it was an untranslatable play on words, a one-liner stating, “the Dalai Lama walks into a pizza shop and says, ‘can you make me ‘one’ with everything?’” The incident, viewed by more than a million people on YouTube, illustrates the difficulty of conveying humor in other languages.
Winners: The Dalai Lama was incredibly gracious while Stefanovic humiliated himself, and Stefanovic displayed good character by being willing to laugh at himself.
Winners: The Dalai Lama was incredibly gracious while Stefanovic humiliated himself, and Stefanovic displayed good character by being willing to laugh at himself.
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Another pizza-themed cultural blunder from 2011...
Donald Trump and Sarah Palin walk into a pizza shop in Manhattan. Except it's a chain restaurant. And The Donald eats his slice with a fork.
No self-respecting New Yorker would go to a chain pizzeria (especially when showing a guest the city). And the only proper way to eat it is to fold the slice in half lengthwise in your hand. Save the knife and fork for your pizza margherita in Napoli.
Seriously? You include Olivia Wilde about preparing "in Swiss" and let Obama go for his comment on the "Austrian language?"
Good point, ComSen1. That "Austrian language" comment could have been a good one to include. Thanks for the feedback!