Tuesday, October 2, 2007

oh be careful little mouth what you say...

You know, besides learning about the culture, and learning to speak Spanish, you also need to develop a sense of WHAT you are saying, and HOW you are saying it. Let's take a look at a few examples.

1. You are late to a party - please be sure to say "lo siento estoy tarde, yo embarazoso" (I'm sorry I'm late, I'm embarassed) because if you say "lo siento estoy tarde, yo embarazada" you would actually say I'm sorry I'm late, I'm pregnant. What one letter can do!

2. We are very excited to be in Costa Rica, so we would say "Nosotros mucho entusiasmodo vivimos en Costa Rica!" (we are very excited to live in Costa Rica), make sure you don't say "Nosotros much excitado vivimos en Costa Rica!" - seems to be right - exicted, excitado?! Well, let's just say it's not THAT kind of excited...

3. And you go to a hotel and your husband calls down to get some extra towels, so he asks for "toallas" (towels), make sure he DOESN'T ask for los paños (towels), because THOSE kind of towels are used by women once a month.

4. And you love your mother dearly, so instead of calling her the formal "madre" (mother), you lovingly call her máma (breast), so make sure you call her mamá (watch that accent!)

5. Finally, you also love your father dearly, so you don't want to call him "padre" (father), so you call him pápa (potatoe), so make sure you call him papá (watch that accent again).

There are so many other lovely examples, but some can't be said in mixed company. So enjoy these, and don't be excitado or embarazada if you call your mamá a máma, or your husband picks up some toallas from the store when you really needed paños. Adiós pápa!

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