One for Don Simon.
A Spaniard is in London and wanders into a clothes shop, and says in a very thick accent, “Hello sor, carn you elp me, I nid som, como se dice, how you say, calcetines?”
The shopkeeper says “I’m sorry mate, I don’t speak a word of Spanish, could you describe what you need?”
The Spaniard points at his feet. The shopkeeper says “You need some shoes?”
The Spaniard says “Shoos! Si!” and looks hopeful. So the shopkeeper wanders off and comes back with a pair of shoes in a box. But it’s clearly not right, the Spaniard says “sorry, no shoos” and points to his feet again.
So the shopkeeper guesses again “You need some trainers?”
The Spaniard says “Trayners! Si!” and looks hopeful again. so the shopkeeper wanders off and comes back with a pair of Nike. But it’s clearly not right, the Spaniard says “sorry, no trainers” and points to his feet again.
The shopkeeper’s getting really annoyed, but suggests “Socks perhaps?” and goes to the back, the returns with a pair of black cotton socks.
The Spaniard is clearly happy with this: “Ah, ‘socks’! Eso si que es!”
The shopkeeper scowls and says “Well if you knew how to spell it, why didn’t you tell me in the first place?!”