Communicating Across Cultures
Most of us have heard stories of humorous, embarrassing, and costly cross-national communication blunders. For example, when Coca-Cola introduced the soft drink to the Chinese market, “the bottles were marked with Chinese characters that presented the sounds of 'Coca-Cola' but that in fact meant 'Bite the wax tadpole.'”[40] When the Chevy Nova was introduced to Latin America, many people were reluctant to purchase a car whose name means “doesn't go” in Spanish.
Even the same words can mean different things in different cultures. It's commonly said, “Even though the British and Americans speak English, this doesn't mean that they speak the same language.” For example, when Americans say that they want to “table an ...
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