lost in translation: that cursed pause

           I posted recently about the importance of punctuation in writing, lest Grandpa should unfortunately be eaten at the writer's expense. As I found out during one particularly awkward moment in Spain, the placement of commas is also extremely important in speech. With the addition of a pause (in my case, I was wracking my brain for the right Spanish word), I managed to insult someone I had only met a few weeks prior. Instead of saying Feliz cumpleaños retrasado, or Happy belated birthday, I slipped in that cursed comma, Feliz cumpleaños, retrasado, and ended up turning beet red when my friend later told me that what I actually said, thanks to that deceivingly small pause, was Happy birthday, retard.It all became clear why the addressee didn't seem too grateful for my nice wishes. Timing really is everything. (And no wonder I wasn't drowning in a sea of Spanish friends :)

Spanish Valentine's day love song

In honor of Valentine's day, here's a fun video that is literally SPOT ON. I remember, after six months of taking Spanish, only being able to say such random things as “vivo en la casa roja.”

(P.S. I love how he tries to make things like “dónde está el baño” [where is the bathroom] sexy.)

German coastguard

In my Teaching English as a Foreign Language class today we learned about the importance of teaching correct pronunciation, so casualties like this don't occur:

the return

I'm easing back into posting. I don't know why I took such a long hiatus, but I would like to make my re-entry into the blogging universe with this cheeky image: 

I'm planning on teaching English abroad in Spain (hopefully! hold out on your budgetary issues, Spain!) and I think this should be my first lesson.

more blunders

Remember when we talked about severe (and hilarious) mistranslations? Well, here's a short article documenting some of the worst blunders cross-culturally. Some of my favorites:

-a sign in a Japanese hotel: “You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid"

-a laundromat in Rome: “Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time"

-the Coors beer campaign “Get Loose with Coors" translating into “Get the runs with Coors" in Spanish

-Coke's “Coke adds life" campaign translating to “Coke brings your ancestors back from the dead" in Japanese

Check out the article here to see them all--it's only a page long, no fear. 

some fun with semantics

Here's another fun post that has been circulating the web. I'm not sure of the original source since it's all over the place, but enjoy reading it here until I am forced to take this blog down for improper citing!

“No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED. However, in a recent linguistic conference held in London, England, and attended by some of the best linguists in the world, Samsundar Balgobin, a Guyanese, was the clear winner.

His final challenge was this: Some say there is no difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED. Please explain the difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED in a way that is easy to understand.

Here is his astute answer: “When you marry the right woman, you are COMPLETE. But, when you marry the wrong woman, you are FINISHED, and when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are COMPLETELY FINISHED!”

His answer was received with a standing ovation lasting over 5 minutes and it entitled him to receive an invitation to dine with the Queen. He won a trip to travel around the world and a case of 25 year old Eldorado rum for his answer.”

(Just for fun, I entered complete and finished into dictionary.com, and here are the results: 

complete: finished, ended, concluded

finished: ended or completed

Looks like Samsundar Balgobin really did deserve such high praise.)

cracking up

Here's my favorite meme that's been circulating since Election Day: