It tastes like coffee.

An American had an opportunity to do some work for a multinational group that included several Britons. At some point, one of the Britons offered him some tea, and it was probably the best cup of tea that he had ever had. Over the next few days, partly to build rapport and partly to get some more of that tea, he deliberately played up how delicious it was.

After a few days, he needed a colleague, another American, to bring over some items. To continue building rapport with the Britons, he now played up the tea to his colleague. "You have to try this," he said.

One of the Britons made a cup of tea for the second American. The second American, after tasting the tea, said what was seemingly the worst possible comment that maybe anyone can make about British tea. He said, "it tastes like coffee."

The Britons were extremely upset about this. Fortunately, though, the first American observed the nearby cup of coffee that his colleague had been drinking, mentioned it, and said, "you have to cleanse your palette."

The Britons, seemingly excited that actual coffee could be blamed for the offense, began shouting in unison, "cleanse your palette! Cleanse your palette!"

The second American then drank some water, followed by the British tea, and then offered a proper compliment. In short time, perhaps because of the opportunity to recover from such an incident, everyone established a very close working relationship.

"Use the time machine."

A city man is visiting a rural area and is short on cash. He asks one of the locals for directions to the nearest ATM, and the man tells him to use the "time machine" around the corner.

Surprised by the response, the visitor explains that he's not looking for some high-tech science fiction device, and then tries to explain what an ATM is.

Again, the local suggests that he use the "time machine" around the corner.

After several cycles of trying to better explain what he is looking for and each time receiving the same response, the visitor gives up out of frustration. With no better alternative, he follows the man's directions and proceeds around the corner. There he sees the TYME machine, the ATM he was asking for.