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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Take a Shot
Err Travel · March 18, 2002

Before the Japanese economy tanked a few years ago, my partner, Susumu Homma, and I co-wrote a travel column for AB·ROAD (pronounced "a·be·rod"), a popular Japanese travel magazine. [More about the magazine name later.]

For one of the initial columns, the editors generated a number of expressions that they believed would be valuable for their readers to know before arriving in the United States. I was asked if I could provide definitions for the terms.

"Sure," I said, "I'll take a shot at 'em."

What I expected to receive were expressions such as an airline customer service agent inquiring, "Have your bags been in your possession since you packed them?" Or a cabby asking, "Where to, Mack?" Or a bellman saying, "Just a moment please. I'll get you a claim check."

What I got instead were the following:

  • Stick 'em up!

  • Drop it!

  • Eyes straight!

  • Hit the ground!

  • Spread eagle!

  • No funny business!

  • Say your Orates!

  • Your money or your life!

  • Don't breathe!

  • Drop your wallet!

  • Fork over!

  • Reach for the sky!

  • Freeze!

  • Kiss your money goodbye!

  • Prepare to meet your maker!
If you believe that you can tell a lot about what's on peoples' minds by the questions they ask-we psychologists do-then the questions about these expressions spoke plenty about how the Japanese perceive travel in the U.S. And their perceptions probably aren't far off.

Oh. The name AB·ROAD. When I asked Mr. Homma the derivation of the name, he told me that it was fashioned after a very popular American expression.

"It is?" I asked. "Then how come I've never heard of it? Do you mean Abbey Road perhaps?"

"No, A-B-ROAD." Then he explained that English words are very much "in" and that the publisher originally chose the word "ABROAD" for the travel magazine. But its readers would refer to it as A-B-ROAD so the publisher simply changed the name to fit the audience. Hum.

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.