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Cutting the Cheese is very difficult to explain to non-native English speakers.
I had to explain that to the CEO/Medical Director of our hospital.
In the board room.
During a meeting.
She said it in the course of preparing an elaborate cheese tray intended for a later meeting.
Our executive staff all stifled a guffaw when she told me to tell someone waiting for her that she would be with them when she was through cutting the cheese.
Seeing the looks around the table, she figured out that she had obviously made some linquistic faux pas, but no one was willing to explain it to her.
I had to.
The Medical Director/CEO is from Spain. She speaks at least 1/2 dozen languages. American Idiom still mystifies her despite living in this country for more than 40 years.
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