Limping To Conclusions

(My mechanic is fellow student in my karate class. When I see him badly injured from a dirt biking accident when getting my car checked on, I tell him that I’ll be telling our Sensei that he won’t be able to come in for a while. At the beginning of the next class this exchange happens.)

Me: “[Mechanic] is injured so he won’t be coming in for a while.”

Sensei: “Is he limping?”

Me: “A little.”

(At the time I thought that was a good answer, but end of class the mechanic came in and our Sensei saw that I may have accidentally understated how injured he was.)

Sensei: “LIMPING A LITTLE?!”

Me: *having an awkward “Oh crap” moment* “The crutches really help with the limping.”

Sensei: “And you didn’t mention the broken arm or leg!”

Me: “I knew it was one or the other and I didn’t want to be wrong.”

(And that’s how I learned that “limping a little” is not a good way to describe an injury that requires crutches and that it’s better to be wrong about broken limbs than to not mention them at all.)