DoWeSayWhatWeThink？"It'srainingcatsanddogs！"AlthoughthissentenceisnotverycommoninEnglandanymore，itclearlyshowshowwedon'talwayssaywhatwemean．Onethingthatoftengivestroubletolanguagelearnersisthat
Do We Say What We Think？
"It's raining cats and dogs！"Although this sentence is not very common in England anymore，it clearly shows how we don't always say what we mean．One thing that often gives troubleto language learners is that they understand every word in a sentence but the meaning remainsunclear-like this sentence that actually means"It's raining very heavily！"However，it's act justidioms（惯用语）that cause difficulties for people learning English．
The British are often considered to be polite and keep their feelings to themselves，but thiscan be very confusing for non-native speakers．We often don't say what we are thinking--in factwe often say the opposite！Here's an example that will hopefully explain what I mean，"Youshould come mund for tea！"Is this a real invitation or is the person just being polite？Generally，British people are less open than people from other cultures，so we aren't quick to invite peopleinto our homes．This phrase is one of those that we say but often don't really mean，so when nofurther details（细节） are given，you can probably think it was made in the name of politeness！
But how does this compare to other countries？
When I lived in India，lots of people would invite me into their homes but I always assumedthat they were just being polite．Of course，I was wrong．The invitations were always from thebottom of hearts，and they did expect me to visit them．I was always surprised by how welcomingpeople were．In fact，I think I spent more time at other people's houses than my own！
This summer，while working in Austria，one of my friends made me think about invitationsagain．She invited me to join her and her boyfriend for a meal out．Although touched by theinvitation，I immediately had the thought that she was just being polite，so I told her that I didn'twant to interrupt them．She replied with，"If I didn't want you to come，I wouldn't have invitedyou in the first place!"