Your Best Spanglish

[ninjacita]

On a lighter note... so this afternoon my housekeeper and I were thinking of names for her new dog when this story came to mind. If you live in Playa, or if you're a regular visitor, there's a good chance that you put some effort into learning Spanish. My getting-older mom and her husband spend several months in the winter in these parts, and have for years. They do their best to immerse themselves and speak some Spanish whenever they can.

So... a couple years ago, they spent two weeks at a lovely little hotelito somewhere down near 1a Av, a family-run boutique place. There was a very friendly house cat who ran the joint. My mother asks the woman who owns the hotel "¿Como se llama tu gato?" And she responds, "Benaki". And my mom says, "Oh that's a lovely name. Benaki".

Over the next week, she realizes this is a VERY popular name - she keeps hearing it in the street, moms calling to children, owner calling to pets......

Eventually she clued in.... "como se llama", meaning, more or less, "how is it called".... and "ven aquí" meaning "come here".

I swear one day I am going to name an animal Benaki.

Anyhoo.... your stories? I have more....

[Dalle]

My dogs names are "Ben(ito)" and "Samanta". This means that when calling Samanta in spanish both listen! "Ben Sam!"

[Debbiec]

Originally Posted by ninjacita

On a lighter note... so this afternoon my housekeeper and I were thinking of names for her new dog when this story came to mind. If you live in Playa, or if you're a regular visitor, there's a good chance that you put some effort into learning Spanish. My getting-older mom and her husband spend several months in the winter in these parts, and have for years. They do their best to immerse themselves and speak some Spanish whenever they can.

So... a couple years ago, they spent two weeks at a lovely little hotelito somewhere down near 1a Av, a family-run boutique place. There was a very friendly house cat who ran the joint. My mother asks the woman who owns the hotel "¿Como se llama tu gato?" And she responds, "Benaki". And my mom says, "Oh that's a lovely name. Benaki".

Over the next week, she realizes this is a VERY popular name - she keeps hearing it in the street, moms calling to children, owner calling to pets......

Eventually she clued in.... "como se llama", meaning, more or less, "how is it called".... and "ven aquí" meaning "come here".

I swear one day I am going to name an animal Benaki.

Anyhoo.... your stories? I have more....

What a GREAT story!! Fun reading, thanks for sharing!

[ninjacita]

Originally Posted by Dalle

My dogs names are "Ben(ito)" and "Samanta". This means that when calling Samanta in spanish both listen! "Ben Sam!"

Or else Ben has a semi-valid excuse to pretend he didn't hear you and keep doing whatever his furry mind was intent on doing... Good one!

[Dalle]

Originally Posted by ninjacita

Or else Ben has a semi-valid excuse to pretend he didn't hear you and keep doing whatever his furry mind was intent on doing... Good one!

Yeah, that is usually what happens!

[ninjacita]

Originally Posted by Debbiec

What a GREAT story!! Fun reading, thanks for sharing!

Thanks! Now, for more stories.... there has to be more out there... I know I say something stupid at least once a day.....

[roni]

I do Spantugues

[ninjacita]

Originally Posted by roni

I do Spantugues

PLEEZ provide examples.

[roni]

Originally Posted by ninjacita

PLEEZ provide examples.

I grew up speaking Portuguese

I mix the two, but it is mostly a pronouncing thing.

Formiga instead of hormiga

chave instead of llave

Farina instead of harina

that kind of thing

Different accents

Pelicano is pronounced differently in the two languages

[ninjacita]

Originally Posted by roni

I grew up speaking Portuguese

I mix the two, but it is mostly a pronouncing thing.

Formiga instead of hormiga

chave instead of llave

Farina instead of harina

that kind of thing

Different accents

Pelicano is pronounced differently in the two languages

It's funny, Spanish and Portuguese are so much closer than English and Spanish.. and so sometimes I'll see something on TV, like this new HBO series Preamar, and I think I'll understand it... no hope!! So much more to learn!

[user 6507]

I knew a gringo guy in Playa who really thought the neighbors cat's name was chinga...

[Dan in Ct]

Originally Posted by StephenB

I knew a gringo guy in Playa who really thought the neighbors cat's name was chinga...

tee hee

[ninjacita]

Originally Posted by StephenB

I knew a gringo guy in Playa who really thought the neighbors cat's name was chinga...

Maybe it was...

[ninjacita]

OK here's another one. So my brother-in-law was working for six months in Santiago, Chile, and the folks headed down to visit for a few weeks. Brother-in-law did part of his undergrad in Argentina, and is pretty fluent. They visit a farmer's market one weekend to stock up on groceries, and end up at a stall selling fresh chicken. The stall is a family affair - four generations manning the booth, with toothless, four-foot-tall great-grandma sitting on a stool at the back supervising things.

Brother-in-law says "Quiero pechas de pollo, por favor".

Long silence..... and then great-grandma loses it and starts laughing so hard she almost falls off the stool. He has just requested chicken tits.

[lovetheroo]

I think my best stories are still undiscovered because I haven't figured out that I said something wrong! I do have a lot of funny looks that must mean something.