Thought this was kind of interesting- I found this ad over at EasyJet's website... Does European and American comedy differ that much? Even though I think they are referring to a "jack a$$" (donkey in the picture) , Isnt using the word "@$$" kind of...crude for an advertisment? (Referring to a donkey or not :-lol )What do you guys think of this? http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/14818.jpgJason :-lol :-wave

Greetings Jason!It's not so much an issue of different comedies, as well as different languages. The language Easyjet, being a European company, uses is English, not American. In English an "a$$" simply is the father of the mule, and the advice "don't be an a$$" means exactly what the picture in the ad indicates. The word Americans nowadays use for the posterior orifice, in English (and in the "older" forms of American) is "ar$e". Although Europe is less uptight than America when it comes to "bad words", I'm pretty sure that Easyjet would not use "ar$e" in an advertisement. Jaap Verduijn.

I disagree, Jaap. EasyJet's marketing team knew full well both the denotative and connotative association with the term "a$$", as do most intelligent Europeans. I think they want the term to be taken either way (either you are a stubborn donkey, or you are just an A$$ not to get the insurance).Little edgy, though. I'm not sure I would go that particular direction, since it could almost be taken in an offensive manner by the audience...

Greetings Mike!Yes, of course the Easyjet people know about the American language, indeed like you say most intelligent (and some not so intelligent - grin!) Europeans do. But it doesn't matter, the whole "a$$" thing simply isn't an issue here. Jaap Verduijn.

It may be more closely related to being "stubborn as a mule".But yes, the connotations are somewhat near the edge. :)--M