Lost in Translation

I'm a first generation American. My mum's Bri-ish and my dad's from Israel. It's an unusual mix to say the least. I've had many interesting conversations and countless anecdotes over the years, so allow me to share one with you that I recently was telling a friend about.

A few years ago, my sister was in town from D.C. visiting my parents, and so I went up to my parents' house as well. We were all sitting around talking when my mom starts telling my sister about what an old friend of hers is up to. My sister lost touch with the girl, but since my mom's still friends with the girl's mom, she was filling my sister in. It was nothing too great, from what I remember, and my sister's response was, "Oh well. She gets an 'A' for effort."

The conversation moves on, we're talking about other things, when maybe two minutes later, my dad, looking at my sister all quizzically, interrupts with, "Wait. Doesn't effort start with an 'E'?"

My sister, my mom and I about lost it right there. We were cracking up. My dad didn't understand what was so funny. When we finally were able to catch our breaths, we tried explaining things, but I think he ended up more confused.

In all fairness, my dad has a pretty good grasp of the English language. And his question was valid. But what makes the story priceless, at least in my opinion, is the fact that he waited so long to ask the question. You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he was trying to figure out how "'A' for effort" could make sense. Poor guy.

-JT