From the Wordsmith: "Chinese puzzle" and "Queer Street". No offence

These are two examples of neutral phrases that if used insensitively in the wrong place, at the wrong time or before the wrong person, could sound offensive.

Their definitions:

Chinese puzzle: “a situation that is complicated and difficult to understand” – dictionary.cambridge.org

Queer Street: “a condition of financial instability or embarrassment” – dictionary.reference.com

With regard to the usage of “Chinese puzzle”, a headline that appeared in The Telegraph on July 25, 2007 sums it up almost perfectly, which reads:

"Why doing business with the dragon is a Chinese puzzle"

Then, on “Queer Street”. The phrase is unrelated to homosexuality, for example, “The financial crisis put many banks in Queer Street.” Yet, some people tend to overreact no matter what. A BBC editor was accused of homophobia after he used the term.