Rubber Rice

Funny story about English as a second language.

I have a few interns on my team, and they are working on a project about the footwear manufacturing process.  When I was in Guangzhou yesterday, they wanted to show me their presentation and get my feedback.  The presentation was actually quite good, but, during one part of it, there was a process listed that I had never heard of - a "rubber rice" treatment.  I thought, "Hmmm... is this something new?  What does this look like?", so I asked them to define what the process is.  They commented that it was when there is a rubber finish to the footwear piece, so the piece is "rubber rice".  I quickly realized that what they were trying to say was that the treatment was "rubberized"!, and said "Oh, you mean RUBBERIZED".  They said, "Yes, rubber rice!".  So... I wrote it on a piece of paper, and we all had a good laugh.  Too funny!  :)