La versión español está después de la versión inglés.
A COUPLE OF funny things happened yesterday after I wrote my post about San Geraldo and his fifteen (“quince” in Spanish) bags of frozen blueberries. The first was when I sat down to coffee and Sunday’s New York Times crossword puzzle at Restaurante Primavera. Check out 20- and 26-Across in the screen shot below.
A while later, San Geraldo joined me. I showed him the crossword puzzle, which he of course also found funny. He hadn’t yet seen my blog post, so he opened his iPad and started reading. When he reached the point where I quoted him telling the cashier “diez y cinco,” he felt the need to clarify.
“I didn’t say ‘diez y cinco,’” SG explained, “I said ‘diesicinco,’ D-I-E-S-I-C-I… Oh, wait. Never mind.”
Although “diez y cinco” doesn’t mean “fifteen” in Spanish (it means “ten and five”), it is at least Spanish. “Diesicinco,” on the other hand, is not.
For the next hour, we couldn’t look at each other without laughing.
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AYER PASARON UNAS cosas graciosas después de que escribí mi publicación sobre San Geraldo y sus quince bolsas de arándanos congelados. La primera fue cuando me senté a tomar un café y el crucigrama del domingo en el New York Times en el Restaurante Primavera. Echa un vistazo a 20- y 26-Across (Horizontal) en la crucigrama a continuación.
Un rato después, San Geraldo se unió a mí. Le mostré el crucigrama, que por supuesto también encontró divertido. Todavía no había visto la publicación de mi blog, así que abrió su iPad y comenzó a leer. Cuando llegó al punto donde lo cité diciéndole al cajero “diez y cinco”, sintió la necesidad de aclarar.
“No dije ‘diez y cinco’”, explicó SG, “dije ‘diesicinco’, D-I-E-S-I-C-I… Oh, espera. No importa.”
Durante la siguiente hora, no pudimos mirarnos sin reírnos.
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“Arándanos para el desayuno,
Amor en la tarde,
Mariposas en mis pantalones
Bajo la luna de agosto …”
Hilarious! Kismet.
Jim,
I’ve had that happen regularly in my crossword puzzles. At least one and cinco times a year!
Carlos loved the SG story …especially the drawing on the plam!
Bob,
What would we do without them, Bob? I for one would have nothing to write about!
Next time he will just let her scan all 15 bags.
David,
That’s what I thought.
I thought of you, too when I did that puzzle, and thought also of all of us poor Ingles-only schmucks struggling with diez y cinco, y reflexivo, y subjunctivo, y imperativo… Vale la pena, pero trabajo duro!
MEBE,
I know my numbers and yet every time I want to say 500, I start out saying cincociento!
At the risk of sounding like a crazy stalker type person, my love for the two of you knows no bounds! I never know if I’m going to be grouchy or sappy before my first cup of coffee. Today, sappy it is!
Deedles,
You do not sound like a crazy stalker person. These kind and funny messages from you help me make it through my days! If we lived nearby, we’d both give you gigantic hugs. (And, yes, I know you’d prefer SG’s)!
Oh, dear, dear, Scoot! I am a hug whore and any hug that is warm and sincere is welcomed in kind. It’s just that I am usually the Panda in the midst of my small Koala friends, so a big Teddy bear hug is a rare treat 🙂
Deedles:
Everyone says SG gives the best hugs in the world. I wonder if I should be worried.
No worries, Scoot. You have SG wrapped around your little finger, and vise versa (or is it vice?). The only thing you have to worry about is him going anywhere to get fifteen items 🙂 If a line forms for hugs, charge for them. He’ll do well until it hits quince.
Oh, that is hilarious! And, gotta love Jerry and his sweet, self-effacing self. You two are the sweetest couple (of course, with all those blueberries in you, what else could you be?). p.s. I had no idea that the Mamas and the Papas had a song about blueberries.
Judy,
I was going to use Blueberry Hill as the song but then had a vague memory of this weird song by the Mamas and the Papas. Thank you for being out there! Jerry and I were just talking about how much we’d enjoying meeting you in person. Anyway, I’ve learned how to laugh at myself thanks to Jerry. I don’t do it as easily but I’m better than I used to be.
I’d be lost in Spain. I can’t even remember how to count to ten in Spanish.
Kirk:
Getting to ten is not a problem. You just display fingers.
The only way that crossword could have been more appropriate is if it had also had “blueberries” as a solution to another clue!
Debra,
The word in Spanish is the same for blueberry and cranberry. Today’s puzzle had CRANBERRY! OK, it was in English, but I knew.
hee hee!
Anne Marie,
He’s so entertaining.
I hear in French, the word for eighty literally means four twenties.
Adam,
Yep. And a French-speaker wouldn’t give that a second thought. I love it.
That IS pretty amazing about the crossword puzzle! I love the Mamas & Papas. Thanks for that.
Steve:
My pleasure. I had a vague memory of this particular song. Glad it wasn’t a hallucination.