Tan Elaine
Key Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- Hong Kong
- Current Location
- Hong Kong
Can the pieces of paper we write on be referred to as papers?
Thanks.
Thanks.
I remember one time at San Francisco International Airport, an immigration officer said "Show me your papers." It's very unusual, because it sounds like something you might hear spoken with a German accent in a WWII spy movie.In many countries, police officers can demand documents from people. If that's happening in a foreign film, the sub-titles will have the officer say "Papers, please." This convention doesn't exist in any Anglophone countries I know of, but if it did, that's the phrase you'd expect to hear.
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