I just found a funny article on the web to start with.
Please add you own experience if you dare !

Hope we will stay focused on the positive side when facing a different culture and have some fun or even a deeper insight

------------------------------------------------------------
Here we go- I'm posting just a part of that article, the rest of it you can find here:
''When a passenger of foot heave in sight,
tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously
at first, but if he still obstacles your
passage tootle him with vigor."
-From a brochure at a Tokyo car rental firm
Many of you may have heard of these infamous errors made by multinational corporations when translating brands or slogans abroad. Language, of course, is only one of many cultural barriers you may have to bridge with your partner organization. We hope this list will entertain you while giving important insight on the potential pitfalls of cross culture communication and serving as a reminder of the importance of a good sense of humor! American and Canadian groups may need to explain to their international partners some of the finer meanings of certain words used below.
- When Kentucky Fried Chicken entered the Chinese market, to their horror they discovered that their slogan "finger lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off"
- Chinese translation also proved difficult for Coke, which took two tries to get it right. They first tried Ke-kou-ke-la because when pronounced it sounded roughly like Coca-Cola. It wasn't until after thousands of signs had been printed that they discovered that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Second time around things worked out much better. After researching 40,000 Chinese characters, Coke came up with "ko-kou-ko-le" which translates roughly to the much more appropriate "happiness in the mouth".
- Things weren't much easier for Coke's arch-rival Pepsi. When they entered the Chinese market a few years ago, the translation of their slogan "Pepsi Brings you Back to Life" was a little more literal than they intended. In Chinese, the slogan meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave".
- But it's not just in Asian markets that soft drinks makers have problems. In Italy, a campaign for "Schweppes Tonic Water" translated the name into the much less thirst quenching "Schweppes Toilet Water".
...
"Each culture has its own rules of communication. A French executive would probably be offended if a new acquaintance were to address him by his first name. Giving the "thumbs up" signal in Australia is impolite. And a display of frankness so common to Americans perpetuates the Japanese impression that the American people exhibit a lack of discipline. Even though such cultural collisions often elicit negative feedback, they rarely provoke extreme hostility. Instead, committing a cultural taboo is usually regarded as improper, discourteous, or disrespectful. The individual who has the misfortune of committing the taboo is "rewarded" with expressions of anger or flat-out silence, which in turn can be misinterpreted. Such mishaps in communication almost always serve to diminish one's credibility.
--------------------------
Why I think this topic is needed for the forum:
- Libera's music has spread internationally. You can find their fans in so many countries. It's amazing! I hope everyone agrees it's a good thing.
- People that join the forum often have a different background and they often find it difficult to understand the best way to express themselves. (However, I think that forum rules are meant to make this online world a better place to live and not to discourage anyone)
- Hopefully people from 'far-away countries' won't be slashed for strange expressions. But this doesn't mean that strange phrases should be posted 'on every corner'

- We all enjoy a peaceful forum, reading nice posts and understanding each other. (the majority of forum members will understand you if you use English to express your opinion)
So my intention is to improve communication here and to avoid unfriendly reactions.
