That is a very skilled little dog
There have been many things to adapt to for me since moving from France to Australia, and this is the beginning of an attempt to explain.
Sometimes I say things to my delicious Christian that are perfectly natural to me (direct translations from French or even French words when I don’t find an equivalent) – and find out very quickly if they don’t make any sense.
Our little dog Mira does this adorable thing when she’s excited: she does little jumps while spinning 360º. One day I observed, got amused (and melted a little on the inside), turned to Christian and said: ‘Oh look! She’s doing a little tourniquet!’.
He blinked. Several times. Then: ‘She truly is a very skilled little dog, if she can do that kind of medical procedure.’
Turns out, when you English speakers use the word you mean bandaging to stop bleeding*. Not quite what I was trying to say. Or what Mira was actually doing. But now Christian and I are on the same page. So when I say ‘tourniquet’, he doesn’t blink anymore.
*The word in French can also mean that, but it’s not its primary meaning. Think turnstile in the Parisian métro that spins and lets people through one by one. That’s what I was going for.
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