Of Misunderstandings and Pants

When I first arrived at the homestay in London, my host-father offered to carry one of my bags up the stairs. He lifted it up and exclaimed that it was heavy. I replied, "Oh, well, it's all my pants." He hesitated for a moment looking confused and a little concerned, and then suddenly it dawned on me. In the UK, "pants" means "underwear." For a moment there, he had thought I had brought an entire bag full of pounds of underwear! I was so embarrassed, but we had a good laugh afterwards.