Sheila OoppsCanadian Liberal MP Sheila Copps first sought public office (in Hamilton, Ontario) during the federal election of 1976. Her knowledge of languages enabled Copps to speak passable Italian - and patchy Polish and Hungarian - at various ethnic functions. Then, while preparing to attend a Croatian dance, Copps memorized a Croatian greeting ('Dobar dan Hrvati') which she was told meant 'Good afternoon, people.' Her audience was delighted.
The following day, Copps attended a Serbian picnic. Because Serbs and Croats - though divided by a long history of bitter animosity - share the same language, Copps trotted out the same expression once again - and was nearly lynched:
"The potential voters visibly recoiled in horror," she later recalled. "My Serbian hosts were quick to hustle me off the stage and try to make amends. I didn't really understand their language, they explained. Later, a husky young Serbian man approached me and said I should thank my stars that I was a woman. Otherwise, I would have been taken out in the alley and assaulted." The problem? 'Dobar dan Hrvati' does not mean 'Good afternoon, people'; it means: 'Good afternoon, Croatian people'!
Six hundred eligible voters attended the Serbian picnic; Copps lost the election by sixteen votes.
[Trivia: Copps once threatened to resign if the federal government instituted a 7% goods and services tax (GST). Shortly after the tax became law, Copps was accosted by a cast member from "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" (a satirical Canadian television program): "You said you'd resign, but you're still here," he exclaimed, "like a bad cold."]
Copps, Sheila (1952- ) Canadian politician
[Sources: Douglas Fetherling, Broadview Book of Canadian Anecdotes]More Sheila Copps anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Verbal Bloopers Canadian Politics Canada Ontario Election Campaigns Elections Losses Dummies Mistakes Misunderstandings Mistranslations Languages Serbs Croats
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