Only in America: Lost in translation
The U.S. boots a British tourist after officials misunderstand his Twitter slang — and more in our collection of strange revelations about the nation
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
A British tourist was handcuffed and barred from entering the U.S. because he had tweeted that he planned to "destroy America." Leigh Van Bryan, 26, says he tried explaining to special agents in Los Angeles that "destroy," in current slang, simply means to "party quite hard in," but his clarification fell on deaf ears. "They just told me, 'You've really f---ed up with that tweet, boy,'" said Van Bryan.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.