The tricks of language
I got caught out by the language this week and had a joke made at my expense. I didn't mind as it was quite funny and interesting!

I have recently joined the local gym. As an aside - I am amazed at how much more supple I feel as a result of this! Another aside is that here in Brazil joining a gym means that you have a personal trainer (in the price) and it is nothing to do with losing weight or gaining muscles. It is just a pleasant social event which makes you feel more healthy.

Anyhow at the end of my hour of having been on just about every machine in the place this week, the trainer said to me (in portuguese) - with a completely straight face - 'Now do 5000 sit ups, then have a bit of a rest, then 5000 more and then a bit of a rest, and then finish off with another 5000'.

Now this is where the trick of language comes in. Despite the fact that I knew that this wasn't reasonable, I wondered whether my portuguese was failing me. Was there another way of saying do 15 sit ups? On every other machine I am asked to do 2 sets of 15. Was 5000 slang for 15? All this must have been written on my face as she burst out laughing and told me practically word for word what I had been thinking.

So it seems that there is a strong link between confidence, language and our ability to communicate.