Sideswipe: Behind the ball

Milford High School's water polo boys in Ohio pose for a team photo they will always remember. (Source: Criggo.com)

Befuddled Brits abroad

The most common lingual mistakes made by British holidaymakers while overseas include calling Greek locals a "squid", asking for a "condom" at breakfast, and declaring yourself "pregnant" to a French waiter. The Greek word for "good morning" - "kalimera" - bears a resemblance to "calamari ", while "Je suis plein" means "I am full" in French, but when mispronounced as "pleine", translates as "I am pregnant". In Portugal and France, the word for "condom" is "preservativo" and "preservatif" and is sometimes mistakenly used when asking for jam. Other mistakes include one holidaymaker who asked for her "head baked al forno" when wanting a hairdryer, and a traveller in Hong Kong who told locals she worked as a "prostitute". The study also revealed that 95 per cent of Britons attempt to speak some of the local language on holiday, particularly those travelling to Spain or France. The most commonly used words and phrases were "hello", "please", thank you", "goodnight", "where are the toilets?" and "a bottle of house red". (Source: Telegraph.co.uk)

Unthinking teen shock

"It's official: chivalry is dead!" declares a reader. "A schoolboy, fit and healthy, took up two seats [one for himself, the other for his bag] on a crowded Northern Express on Tuesday while several passengers, including elderly women, stood and watched. The boy then lay down on his bag across said two seats and had a snooze."

More signs of pending apocalypse

A reader spied a new product in the biscuit aisle yesterday, Chocolate Gingernuts! "I couldn't believe what Griffin's have done to a classic; smothered head to toe in chocolaty calories ... all over, not just a bum-dipping! It just seems wrong!"

Be afraid, Armageddon thief

Angela from thecostumeshop.co.nz writes: "If your teenage daughter came home from the Armageddon expo at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland at the weekend with an XS female Ghostbusters costume, she stole it from our stall. She was sighted taking it, but was lost in the crowd. We also have her on film. We have the licence for this and so she could get it only from us. If she tells you that she paid for it, she is lying, because we took only one with us. The costume is worth $155. If you wish to pay for this, contact us at info@thecostumeshop.co.nz and no charges will be laid. If we do not hear from anyone within the week, we will forward the pictures to the police."

Today's Webpick: All these remarkable human endeavours are allegedly without trickery - overall pretty impressive, but I'm not convinced by the water walker...Go here.



Follow Ana Samways on Twitter.