[NAKED Podcast] My Coworkers Think I Ate My Dead Cat

If you’ve ever learned a second language, you know how tricky it can be. One wrong word and suddenly, you’re in a completely different conversation than you intended. In this episode of NAKED Questions, we dive into the struggles of non-native English speakers—especially those who sound fluent but still get tripped up by unexpected vocabulary. Because let’s be real: English is weird, and sometimes, even the smallest slip can lead to absolute chaos.

Take this story, for example: Someone who has lived in an English-speaking country since childhood, speaks fluently, and rarely makes mistakes… until grief fogs their brain. After losing their beloved cat, they return to work, still emotionally drained. A coworker asks what they’re having for lunch, and instead of saying “leftovers,” they say “the remains from yesterday.” Cue immediate horror. HR gets involved. People now think they slow-cooked their own cat. It’s a tragic misunderstanding, but also hilariously relatable.

Ana and Fer talk about how language mishaps like this happen all the time. Even the most fluent non-native speakers have moments where their brains mix things up—especially when emotions are running high. And let’s not forget: English has so many words that sound normal but carry wildly different meanings depending on the context. (Seriously, who decided “remains” could refer to both food and, well… actual remains?)

So, should we all be a little more forgiving of language mix-ups? And how do we embrace these awkward moments instead of letting them haunt us forever? Tune in as we unpack this and more—because let’s be honest, we’ve all said something embarrassing at least once.

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