Employee saves her company from signing a deal with shady business after overhearing them conspire in another language: 'Do not scheme people and talk about it in another language, they might understand it'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Mar 22, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

Never underestimate the assistant in the room. First of all, you never know just how intelligent and capable they might be, but also, you never know if the roles will be reversed one day, and you may find yourself answering to them. 

The truth of the matter is that assistants see, hear, and digest more than most employees in an office environment. They might even hear confidential conversations that they weren't necessarily "meant" to overhear. Keep scrolling below to see how this assistant's understanding of Serbian slang proved to be very useful when it came to a pending business deal!

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  • This assistant was brought into a meeting with her boss primarily because she spoke the same language as these colleagues and could be helpful in breaking the ice. However, by the time the meeting began, she wasn't given the opportunity to introduce herself as things got moving pretty quickly on the agenda. 

    Later on, however, she overheard these shady businesspeople chatting in Serbian slang, revealing that they were planning on deceiving the company. The assistant overheard and understood every word and proceeded to relay the information to her boss. I think we can all agree that this lady deserves a raise after saving her company like this!

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    I am a Serbian who moved to America to work for 4 years. I was in a smaller IT company (around 20 people), and I was highly regarded by the owners (there were 2 of them). Sometimes, I represented them in meetings, mostly when showcasing the company's services and so on.
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    One day, while on a break, I overheard one of the owners mentioning they had a meeting with a Serbian company and they would like me to accompany them in case there were any communication issues. I agreed.
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    During the meeting, we forgot to mention that I was Serbian. I was introduced as an assistant, so I didn't feel the need to introduce myself.
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    When we presented our services, they started speaking in Satrovacki (a Serbian slang where words are twisted), probably thinking that if anyone had learned Serbian, they
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    wouldn't be able to understand them. I understood every word. They were attempting to deceive the company, and it was evident we weren't their first or last target.
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    I wrote down a few things they said, translated them, and showed one of the owners the translation. After the meeting, they asked if I was sure, and I confirmed. Due to
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    some procedures, we had to meet one more time, but with permission, I said, "Razmislićemo o Vašem predlogu."
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    They just froze for second, face white and open mounth, they looked at each other and tryed to stay cool but you could hear in their voice they knew they up We didn't sign anything with that company.
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    Epsilon_Meletis - 5 hr. ago "We will review your proposal."
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    StayAffectionate 5987 OP . 5 hr. ago Yeah that is translation
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    Late-External3249 5 hr. ago My wife is first generation Croatian in Canada. We went to Croatia for a vacation/see relatives.
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    When we went to return the rental car, the guys started goung over it with a fine tooth comb to charge me for any scratch. My wife
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    mentioned in Croatian that we had taken pictures of the scratches that were already there.
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    StayAffectionate5987 OP • . 5 hr. ago Always take a picture
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    vraGG_.5 hr. ago That's excellent :) Heh, I almost laugh when entities from central europe, or god forbid, abroad, are dealing with the balkans. I am like "oh you sweet summer child".
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    thejerseyguy . 3 hr. ago I mean, it may not be Pro, if you take out the language aspect, but that's the twist. It's better than petty, I'll
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    vote regular, only because the outcome was not devastating to either party. If there was demonstrable damage
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    to the perpetrators I'd agree. All that happened was a non executed contract, and they probably succeeded with another company. We'll never know.
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    Sarah91146 9 min. ago I do this all the time.french is commonly spoken. But when I speak English. It's very hard to tell I was raised speaking French. I have
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    no accent when speaking English. People automatically assume I have no second language. I have caught so so many people in lies, making fun of me
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    and others, or just plain trash talking. When they assume no one else can understand them. It happens all the time. I'm glad you threw them for a loop
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