Interpreting body language can leave you stuck for words

THE problem about being given a goat in Africa is getting it home.

When my boss was presented with one by a tribe he’d been filming for a documentary, he had to ask them to mind it for him until his next visit. Irish customs officers, he explained, tend to have a bad attitude to incoming goats.

He didn’t get into the foot-and-mouth issue, partly because he wasn’t sure if it applied to cloven hoofs, but mainly because he wanted to be diplomatic about not taking the gift home with him. You don’t want to offend a goat-giving tribe. Especially when you know that the tribe has its own special sod-off hand gesture.