Secrets of Cross-Cultural Communication

Question 1

Exuberance

Answer 1

noun
The quality of being full of energy & excitement
* She really stands out because of her positive energy and exuberance.
* He possesses a really youthful exuberance.

Question 2

Conflict

Answer 2

noun
A serious disagreement or argument
* We saw a lot of conflict between the two parties.
* It’s better to avoid any conflict whenever you can.

Question 3

Lose face

Answer 3

verbal phrase
To be embarrassed publicly
* Putin will definitely lose face if he withdraws from the Ukraine.
* He is very scared to lose face every time there is any kind of confrontation.

Question 4

Revenge

Answer 4

noun
Harm done to someone as punishment for harm they did to you
* It is believed that he quit his job out of revenge.
* She took revenge on him for hurting her feelings.

Question 5

Assign blame

Answer 5

verbal phrase
To say that someone is responsible for something bad happening
* It is easy to assign blame, but not so easy to fix the issue.
* I don’t want to assign blame until I know for sure who is responsible.

Question 6

Metaphor

Answer 6

noun
A phrase that compares two unrelated things:
* The eyes are the windows to the soul.
* She has a heart of gold.

Question 7

Probe

Answer 7

verb
To ask a lot of questions to find hidden information
* They probed the CFO for hours before they could finally get to the truth.
* I’ve been trying to probe deeper to get an answer.

Question 8

Protagonist

Answer 8

noun
The leading character in a story
* The protagonists in his movies are always female.
* Each story has a unique protagonist.

Question 9

Point fingers

Answer 9

verbal phrase
To accuse or blame someone
* He is always pointing fingers at others when he is actually the one at fault.
* It is not always easy to point fingers when you don’t want to make enemies.

Question 10

Peace of mind

Answer 10

phrase
Feeling calm and free of worry
* For my own peace of mind I try to finish all my tasks before I go to bed.
* Our stocks went up in price and that gave us some peace of mind.

Question 11

Tentative terms

Answer 11

noun
To say something in a careful / uncertain way
* We just spoke in tentative terms and didn’t come to any real decision.
* It’s better to speak in tentative terms with her.

Question 12

Definitive

Answer 12

adjective
Final & complete, not to be questioned
* There is no definitive proof that he is guilty.
* This is the definitive plan we decided on.

Question 13

Withdraw

Answer 13

verb
To stop talking and not engage with others
* He tends to withdraw when receiving any kind of criticism.
* You shouldn’t withdraw like that each time you are challenged.

Question 14

Cultural sensitivity

Answer 14

noun
The knowledge and acceptance of other cultures
* It is very important to have some cultural sensitivity when dealing with clients overseas.
* We are initiating some cultural sensitivity training and seminars for our staff members.