I used to work, in the UK, for a large American automotive manufacturer. Britain and America: two nations divided by a common language. We rarely had problems understanding each other though. Most of the time, we were all speaking the patois of the automotive industry. Most of the time. But there were odd occasions when conversation would stray into less definite areas: business issues, rather than technical problems. More colloquialisms would sneak in. The idiom changed. But on the whole, we muddled through. The following is a true story, but the name of interlocutor has been changed.

I’m sitting at my desk wondering what to make of the email I’ve just received and my attention drifts to the mobile car crusher operating in the unused corner of the car park.  One vehicle after another is picked up by the mechanical grabber and dropped into the top of the big machine. …