My mate in Iran told me that Iranians, when speaking a foreign language, often make literal translations from Farsi.
Colloquial Farsi for "I fucked up/made a mistake" translates literally into English as "I ate shit".
So the story goes, an Iranian in New York parks on double yellow lines and, when he returns to the car, a no-nonsense New Yoik cop is giving him a ticket.
By way of apology and explanation, the Iranian tells the cop "I ate shit!"
The cop comes over all concerned for the welfare of this poor bastard who's eaten shit and doesn't seem to speak much English, and he calls for an ambulance, telling them that "there's a guy here who ate shit - I think he should see a doctor."
Becoming ever more flustered, the Iranian is taken into an ambulance and off to a hospital. The doctors ask him what the problem is.
He tells them: "I ate shit when I said that I ate shit!"