Fifty to seventy-five years ago there was a stereotype about Brits that the only foreign languages any of them could speak were those of exotic colonies where they had been posted. The joke was that the Englishman was touring in Portugal and tried to buy something from a fisherman, but they could not communicate. Then the Englishman tried making some clicking sounds, and when that didn't work he remarked to his wife:
"Well, I guess he speaks neither English nor Swahili."

[ November 21, 2007: Message edited by: Frank Silbermann ]