Next Time Hold Fire

(I attend a military school, which is open to foreign cadets as well. They can all speak English, per the required test scores, but don’t always get certain slang. This happened one night…)

Me: *walking upstairs after working out*

Underclassman: *barrelling down the stairs, forcing me flat against the wall* “Good evening ma’am!”

Me: *jokingly and not expecting an answer* “Where’s the fire, [Underclassman]?”

Underclassman: *stopping dead in his tracks* “There’s a fire?! Where?!”

Me: “Err, ah, no, there isn’t a fire.”

Underclassman: *genuinely perplexed* “Then why did you ask me, ma’am?”

(I tried to explain as best as I could, but I still don’t think he got it.)