Putting my foot in it!

So language error of the day today may make it into the top ten for the year.

I wanted to buy some running shoes, so I went to a store in Shinjuku where I was told they sell the sort I'm after. I couldn't see any on the shelves so I plucked up the courage to ask one of the staff if they sold them.

すみません。。。

My enquiry was met, as usual, with a rather long winded reply, which I interpreted to mean, no we don't have any at the moment.

Not too discouraged by this I decided to plough on and ask when they would get some in. The clerk wasn't sure, so I was escorted over to his boss, who began to go on about sizes and seemed to be saying that they'd have some in tomorrow.

Great! I thought. It was then that the conversation took a turn for the worse.

What size are you?

She asked.

Oh, shit!

I've never bothered to remember what my shoe size measurement is in Japanese / American measurements, so, beginning to get a little flustered, I told her that I only knew my size in UK measurements.

In fact, I made a bit of a mess of telling her that, and a thin layer of sweat had by now formed on my head as I began to mentally wrestle with the dual problem of shoe size conversion and foreign language communication.

Oh, that's OK. She said. What 's your shoe size in UK size?

Oh, she knows UK sizes? Great!... Shit!..... What is my shoe size in UK sizes.....? Oh yeah it's 11..... or 12.... or something like that isn't it.

11 o'clock. I said.....

..... or half past eleven.

Yes, that's right I converted my feet into clocks and began to talk about the time.

They didn't seem to mind too much though, and it was only when it dawned on me that I had made the error that I brought real attention to it by trying to correct it. No, no! not 11:30 of course, 11 and a half.

Unfortunately, all my hard work went unrewarded as there is no knowing, apparently, when they will have any 11s or 11 and a halfs in. And, in my rush to extract myself from the embarrassing "feet becoming clocks" conversation I didn't manage to find out what an 11 and a half is in Japanese measurements.

Better google it I guess...