I found a new place that sells the International Tribune Herald (basically the NYTimes without all the lifestyle bits). Anyways took it to the Irish for a read and I asked the waitress if she wanted the paper when I was done with it (that was the longest setup sentence ever).
She basically doesn’t want it (I think), but she reads a headline form the front page and it says something about “blah blah blah business reels from blah blah blah crisis” (sic) and logically asks “what is reel”?

me hemming and hawwing (making a funny noise). Ummmmmmmmmmm…you know fishing poles (making stupid hand gestures). It’s not like that at all. It means not going well.

In retrospect I’m not sure what to think about myself as english teacher.
That is the most brilliant explantion I could come up with. Yeah I’m going to teach her english.
Next week we cover “wanking”, “raining cats and dogs”, and possibly “drunk as a skunk”.

Feel free to input your english idioms here. Comments please on any stupid english sayings that don’t translate at all.