A few things have been brought to my attention over the last few months that made me realise how vast the Spanish speaking world actually is. I thought I would share them with you.
-Guagua (pronounced wawa) means baby here in Chile, but if you said it in Colombia, you would be referring to a bus.
– Manicero (pronounced manny-serro) here in Chile, simply means a person that sells peanuts or nuts. However in Argentina, you would be telling your companion that the man over there happens to have a tiny penis.
-the verb ‘coger’. Over in Spain, you would be picking up a telephone. But over here on the west side of el mi do hispanohablante, you would be trying to shag someone.
– The word for STRAW – bombilla. However my friend jack, who has spent a fair bit of time in Spain, decided to ask the waiter for a ‘paja’ the other night, to which he looked very disturbed…..don’t really think he expected to be giving wanks to his clients.
Another thing that continues to wind me up is FILM TITLES. For example, The Hangover.
The title here is ‘Que Pasa Ayer?’ (What happened yesterday?)
Well that’s not a hangover is it. That’s amnesia. It’s not even that hard to translate I have no idea why they’ve made it so difficult.
I am more than certain I will come across more that will make me giggle, so stay tuned for Lost in Translation II…
CDS 