One day, my colleague (who speaks French) came by my desk to make sure my server was running correctly. He also mentioned that he wouldn’t be able to addresss the last few bugs I raised for the next software release. He doesn’t have any hardware to test software changes. In order to get any, he said, (in French), “Il faut lecher les couilles.”

I turned around and looked at him and said brightly, “Oh, I’ll do that!” Thinking that “lecher les couilles” meant kick some ass (or better, twist some balls).

His eyes popped out of his head and he said that I’d better not advertise that particular fact. I thought, oh, maybe they don’t like women kicking ass at this company.

15 minutes later, I realized what he said. OH-MY-GOD. I’m so embarrassed. I can’t talk to him for the next 20 years! Lick some balls, not kick ass! Oh, I’m so embarrassed.