The word “doctor” is also used as a verb. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary says that one meaning of the verb “doctor” is to give medical treatment. For example, she doctored her sick friend. That makes sense. But personally, I have never heard the term used that way. In my opinion, it is more common to nurse someone back to health.

Sometimes people say “doctor” to mean “fix”. For example, he has doctored that clock several times. But again, this usage is rare.

A more common usage of the verb “doctor” is to transform something in an honest or dishonest way. For example, the school board official was accused of doctoring her study results. When we transform something, either in an honest or dishonest way, we sometimes add the word “up” to “doctor”. For example, the writer doctored up the script to better fit the actor. Here is a dishonest example: The legal team was accused of doctoring up photographs of evidence.

If something is exactly what you want, it is “just what the doctor ordered”. This expression can be used in many situations. For example, if I worked all week, a night on the couch with a good movie might be just what the doctor ordered.

Our last expression is this: Doctors make the worst patients. This means it is difficult to give people advice about something that they do for a living. This is because they might feel they know better than the person giving the advice. For example, Mary tried to persuade her boss at the bank to seek help for his growing debts. But he got angry. He said he knew best how to deal with his money. Mary just shook her head and said to herself, “It’s true. Doctors make the worst patients.”

Have you ever wondered why you sometimes take an almost immediate liking to a person you have just met? We often get the first impression of the person based on the color of the person’s skin or the manner in which he or she dresses. Meaning is conveyed not only by words or verbal languages but also by nonverbal communication systems, such as body behaviour.

Nonverbal communication is important because we use the actions of others to learn about their emotional states. Our emotions are reflected in our posture, face and eyes---be it fear, joy, anger, or sadness---so we can express them without ever saying a word. For this reason, most of us rely heavily on what we learn through our eyes.

Nonverbal communication is significant in human interaction because it is usually responsible for the first impressions. More importantly, those first messages usually influence the perception(感知) of everything else that follows. Even how we select friends and partners is grounded in first impressions with nonverbal communication.

Nonverbal communication is important because it is culture-related. It is based on different beliefs, values and customs in different cultures. When, where, how, and to whom people display their specific nonverbal behaviour is greatly affected by cultures and contexts. Culture determines what the appropriate nonverbal behaviour is. For example, feelings of friendship exist everywhere but their expression varies. It may be appropriate in some countries for men to embrace each other and for women to hold hands; in other countries these displays of affection may be shocking. Each culture has its own specific interpretation on nonverbal communication. What is acceptable in one culture may be completely unacceptable in another. One culture may determine that snapping one’s fingers to call a waiter is acceptable; another may consider this gesture rude.

When I was ten years old, I went to the USA to visit some family friends. We travelled around California—Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. I noticed something funny about the way everyone spoke English. I remember thinking, "This is the way they speak in films!" The only times I had really heard an American accent before were when I watched films such as Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. Most of the films I watched when I was a child were American.

One moment I remember very clearly was at the beginning of the holiday, when my friend asked me if I wanted to order ‘French fries’. I couldn't imagine what French fries were. What was fried and French? Snails? Cheese? She was amazed that I had never tried them and she ordered a portion for us to share. When the waiter brought us some chips, I asked her where the French fries were. She pointed to the plate of chips! Later that week she said she was going to buy some ‘chips’ from the supermarket. She came out with a packet of crisps! I was very confused.

During that holiday we were also offered ‘biscuits and gravy’ with our lunch. This was a very strange idea to me, because in England biscuits are sweet. Gravy is a salty, meat-based sauce. I later realized that ‘biscuits’ in America are salty snacks. What we call ‘biscuits’, they call ‘cookies’.

I was also embarrassed when a stranger told me she liked my ‘pants’. I remember thinking, “How can she see my underwear?” My mum then told me that they call ‘pants’ what we call ‘trousers’, the outer clothing that you wear on your legs!

I was disgusted when I saw an ‘eggplant’ pizza on the menu in a restaurant. Eggs do not grow on plants, I thought. What on earth could an ‘egg plant’ be? Something eggy and leafy? My dad ordered this pizza and it was covered in aubergines. I asked him where the “egg plant” was. He laughed and pointed to the aubergines. “They call this ‘eggplant’ in America!” he told me.

Although the same ‘language’ may be spoken in different countries, there are likely to be many differences, not just in vocabulary but also in spelling, grammar and pronunciation! I think part of the excitement of learning a language is learning about the differences that exist in how it is spoken in different places.