Many moons ago, I had an in-depth political discussion with a taxi driver on the way to Alicante airport entirely in Spanish. At that time, I had just packed in studying politics at university so a little political banter wasn't unusual. What was strange however is that I didn't and don't speak Spanish.Despite this apparent linguistic limitation, the conversation was a success. By following the blissfully ignorant idea that all Spanish words were simply English with lispy pronunciation and an extra vowel thrown on the end, we were able to chat about the presidente and the parliamento using my fantastico vocabulario.
This theory does however have it's problems. Scots in Italy for example would be faced with a confused chuckle were they to point to themselves in a bid to convey their nationality and say "Scotto!" In fact it's likely that Scots in Italy would, to Italians, look Scotto whilst claiming simultaneously to be one.
Don't follow?
Let a Scottish person loose on a summer holiday under the Tuscan sun and they'd probably discard the sunscreen like a helmet after a war. They'd want sun exposure and plenty of it. The "Polish flag" appearance would swiftly follow as forearms and faces sport that overcooked glow.
Alas, the Celtic skin just isn't designed for the sun. A fact well noted by the Italian language with Scotto meaning "overcooked"...
Italian from a Scottish perspective - Fango
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