"That's so gay" (Or, "Just like a Jew")

[Tegan]

Man, good thing he caught that one in time, then.

He put it in his essay to become an exchange student, which I edited. I took it out and explained it to him. "But it's in all the books!" he said. I told him it wasn't a good word, and to leave it out of the essay. He reluctantly agreed, then did his own research because he didn't really believe me. A bit later he came back and apologized for doubting me. I suspect his further research helped him deal with the trip better, as well.

I sometimes wonder how he came to love Japanese culture so much when all he read was anti-Japanese propaganda until he was a teenager.

[Hugin]

I know someone who's mostly Irish, with an English last name, named "Mick". We've joked a lot that he'd need a fake ID to make it 10 steps into Ireland.