Gladwell's mother reminded him of an expression from her native, Jamaica. In English it says, when things go wrong, convert them to something that is desirable. But because we do not use the rounded vowels in Jamaica, they're all broad A vowels. We instead of saying spoil, we say spoil. Those are four English words, but they're just pronounced differently. Put it in a sentence in your best Jamaican dialect and you'll see what I mean.