HONG KONG -- Apart from Thatcherism and the creation of the modern game of soccer, some cynics say that the major English contribution to modern international life has been the widespread promulgation of the dreadful "F" word.
Beloved of soccer hooligans, "F*** off" has become the common argot of insult almost everywhere on the planet -- understood in places from China and Japan to Latin America, even where English is not understood.
Horror of horrors, an important little book ("POSH: The Fascinating Stories We Tell About the Words We Use," by Michael Quinion. Penguin: £7.99; 282 pages) reveals that the four-letter word is not English at all and, worse yet for professional Englishmen, is an import from German.