I was drinking a beer and eating sashimi in a tiny bar in Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district last week when one of the office workers there wondered aloud, "Is evolution the same as progress?"

I thought for a minute and said "No, it's different." But as for any further explanation in Japanese, I couldn't get it out in time, and the conversation moved on.

The starting point for this week's column is the answer I would have given had I had a dictionary and a bilingual assistant with me. And had the customers really wanted a lecture rather than an after-work drink!