New Car Psychology Across Languages

Buying a new car is a major event in the lives of most consumers no matter where they live, and this must be taken into consideration when designing a survey instrument. Different cultures have different psychological and emotional reactions. This difference must be acknowledged and taken account for when translating. A real world example is a translation for Brazil on how independent truckers changed their oil. In the US, it’s common to ask if a person “changes your own oil”. In Brazil, that phrase is very vulgar slang that would have elicited laughter if not outright disgust, and would not have helped gather data.
—Jonathan Starks