True Story:
When I was in Germany and meeting my future mother-in-law for the first time, I brought her a box of Hershey's chocolates.
I hadn't learned the language yet, so, in half-German and half-English, I told her I'd brought her a gift.
At first, she looked horrified, then confused. My girlfriend (future wife #1) quickly stepped in and corrected my translation.
Gift in German means poison.
The word I should have used was geschenk.
