It’s a constant source of amazement [and amusement] to me that Spanish companies don’t get a native speaker to at least vet the English copy of their ads. Here’s something from the leaflet found in the box for the shoes I bought this afternoon, presumably translated by the Chairman’s cousin or friend :-

Flex System Action – Innovating system that allows the foot to walk with naturalness being provided to him stability and protection against lateral twists.

Talking of friends and cousins, a colleague of mine is buying a second-hand car. Or ‘previously used’, as I think they say in the States. Anyway, he surprised me by saying that he would rather pay extra and get it through a dealer than risk a private sale. I commented that people tended to take the opposite view in the UK, trusting a private seller more than a dealer, especially if there was a full service history. My colleague put me straight – firstly, service histories don’t exist here; secondly, no one would trust a private seller not to cheat; and, thirdly, he wasn’t talking about any old dealer. It would have to be one in his village known to his family. This would, in effect, minimise the chances that he was being cheated. The personal factor yet again. And whose to say it’s misguided?