My work once sent me to Madrid. I only have some high school Spanish.

I had a cold at the time and soon ran out of cough drops. My coworker told me where I could buy some more, and what to ask for.

When I got to the store, apparently I misremembered what he told me to say. I said to the woman, “quiero caramelos de mentales.”

She looked at me confused. I tried again, slower: “caramellos…de…mentales?”

She seemed a bit alarmed. She said something in Spanish. I said “lo siento, no comprendo.”

She called over her coworker, who asked me “what are you looking for?”

I said, “cough drops.” She looked confused. “Cough…drops? What is it?” I tried “caramelos de mentales” again, no success, just confusion.

Then I remembered I had some wrappers in my pocket so I pulled one out and showed her. Suddenly they both beamed with understanding. “Ohhh! Caramelos mentolados! You were asking for ‘brain candies.’ She thought you wanted something illegal.”

Same. HP could stand for “heaping pile.”