Nude at the Party!

A tiny word or preposition can have a dramatic effect on what you say!

Once I was invited to an important, rather upper-class dinner in Venice - an elegant feast, one might call it - and had nervously invited Rossana, a beautiful 19-year-old student of English, to accompany me. She had accepted and I was over the moon! Rossana was remarkably sexy, and had a lovely voice, but she was extremely shy about speaking English. I had told her that she had to try to overcome this shyness by forcing herself to speak.

Around the dinner table were many guests, most of whom were English-speakers, or Italians who spoke fluent English. It didn't take long - after some glasses of Merlot and Tokai - for these normally reserved people to begin relaxing and talking animatedly. As it frequently does in Italy, this boisterous conversation soon turned towards clothes and the latest fashions (after talking about the food, naturally!), and people were discussing "dressing up" to go to a party.

To "dress up" means to put on special clothes for a special occasion. Rossana, who had been totally silent up to this point, decided to try to speak, and because her voice was so compelling, when she spoke there was a hush, and even an intake of breath. She leaned foward and announced proudly "I never dress at all when I go to a party!"

There was a moment of absolute silence as all the men had visions of Rossana attending a party in a state of complete undress, and then there was a huge roar of laughter! When she realised her mistake - the omission of the tiny word "up" - Rossana didn't know which way to turn! She blushed furiously and started hitting me with her fists! I was at a loss to know why I was getting the blame! The only way for me to avoid being beaten up was to throw my arms around her and pull her close! Suddenly she relaxed and hid her embarrassment by burying her face against my chest.

The outcome wasn't too bad, however. That little escapade completely broke the ice. Rossana is sitting across the room from me now, reading a book in English - we've been happy partners for the last 5 years! And our lifestyle here in London is informal - we rarely dress up at all!