Words I hate
Delicious (say it slowly, delight yourself in 'li', that is, if you want to be an idiot before my eyes; or should I say ears?). Exquisite (no comments needed)
A taste of American
- I'm confused (Use liberally; it means practically nothing.)
- Cool (It means yes.)
- Thank you so much (Be emphatic in your so; too long could sound hypocritical, so don't exaggerate. I'm still unable to say this one with a credible tone.)
- That's ridiculous. Are you serious? (These two mean exactly the same. It's like saying aha.)
- That makes sense (It means: finally I think I'm beginning to understand.)
- What's that? (This is the modern form of the "I beg you pardon".)
- I appreciate it. (It means literally "thank you" but changes the emphasis from the person being thanked for (you) to the person who is thankful (me).)
- The economy, as in "because of the economy" or "in this economy". (This is a very new euphemism to refer to the Big Economic Crisis of 2008-20??)
- Hilarious. (It means funny, as in very funny and not funny-bizarre. Bizarre is a great word too. Say slowly: bizaaarre.)
- Have a good one! (One means day.)
- The out verbs: check out, find out, figure out,... (These are everyday verbs in every day spoken American.)
- The up verbs. Some of these verbs have really funny connotations and all of them sound great: man up, beef up, lawyer up,...
- I got it! (difficult to translate; means something like "understood"; the right tone has to be a little bit self-sufficient)
- Will do! (=I will do it)
- No can do! (=I cannot to it;
extremely ungrammatical and fun to say)
- Good stuff! (This is how you end a conversation.)
- Nice! (This is how you show your approval.)
- Look at that!
- Are you kidding me? (This is what you tell your computer when it's taking two hours to reboot; or what you tell yourself after trying the wrong key for the third time)
- What's his/her face. (This is a funny
and slightly offensive way of referring to someone whose name you just
cannot remember.)
Musings of the masters
- When pygmies cast such long shadows, it must be very late in the day (Read in Gian-Carlo Rota's Indiscrete thoughts)
- This [le Quebec] is a France without bidet (Read in Arcadi Espada's Canada Dry chronicles)
- Every nationalist is haunted by the belief that the past can be altered. (From George Orwell's Notes on nationalism).
- Conozco lenguas medievales que se han fabricado en estos últimos treinta años, de acuerdo con todos los adelantos filológicos. Con una pequeña base se hace una lengua en menos tiempo del que se necesita para hacer un partido político [I know of Middle Age languages that have been fabricated in these last thirty years in accordance with all the philological advances. With a small basis, you can make up a language in less time than you need to create a political party] (from Julio Camba's, The traveling frog) Read the entire Traveling frog (La rana viajera, in Spanish), one of the most lucid and funniest explanations on what's wrong with Spain.
Great words
Sumptuous, rumbustious (vocinglero, that's a great Spanish word too), surreptitious, obnoxious,... (Can you see the pattern?)
German concepts
Schadenfreude, Volkstum, Zeitgeist
Wein, Weib und Gesang
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de ver que en su tierna infancia
todos los niños en Francia
supiesen hablar francés.
«Arte diabólica es»
dijo, torciendo el mostacho,
«que para hablar en gabacho,
un fidalgo en Portugal
llega a viejo, y lo habla mal;
y aquí lo parla un muchacho.»
Nicolás Fernández de Moratín