Originally Posted by
Robert Foster
Yes it is interesting, the woman could read english well enough to see they had coffee, she could read how much the coffee cost but couldn't read on the cup that says "Hot"?
Well, "hot" is a bit vague. A 100 degree and a 180 degree drink are both "hot." It's pretty easy with hindsight to say a person should have guessed which one of them was meant, based on the word "hot" being pre-printed on the cup. I don't think that had anything to do with literacy or the woman's mother tongue.