English can be a hard language to learn.

I had a Greek friend in college who used to confuse the words “sperm” and “germ” and remarked that she had a cold and didn’t want to get her “sperm” all over everyone. After some back and forth, I was able to explain why this was an impossibility. The hardest part for non-native speakers is probably the idioms—particularly in American English.

Mindful speech is important, but misunderstandings can be pretty hilarious:

On shooting fish in a barrel:

On barking up the wrong tree:

On being happy as a clam:

On being a party pooper:

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