The F Word

I'll bet THAT got your attention.

It's funny how things that are commonplace and innocuous in one culture can become somewhat dangerous in another. For example, in the States a "thumbs up" is usually a positive gesture. It can mean "Good job!" or "I agree!" or "Way to go!" But in Iran, a thumbs up is the ultimate insult to those of the gentlemanly persuasion.
So it is with the "F word." It means one thing one place and something entirely different in another. British English uses the word in a rather carefree fashion. It doesn't seem to have the same hysteria inducing capabilities in Great Britain as it does in the States. After all, it's one of the words that is still bleeped out on commercial television in the States, even though you know darn well what's being bleeped!
Imagine my surprise then when we pulled into the parking lot for the Rothenberg Christmas market and saw a tour bus with the F Word emblazoned across the side. The letters must have been three feet tall. I kid you not! We even had to go around the lot again just so I could take a picture of it. 'Twas then that I discovered that the batteries in my camera were conveniently dead.
Bummer. You'll just have to take my word for it and imagine a busload of tourists riding around in a bus that says "F*&#ER" on the side. Both sides. Apparently it's an uncommon surname in German but a surname nonetheless.