La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
A FRIEND OF OURS IN New York studied and worked in Latin America. On her first trip as a student, she was among other students, most not completely proficient yet in the Spanish language. They were at a café when a rabbit ran by. Another student squealed in Spanish, “¡Amo cojones!” What she should have said was “Amo los conejos.” [I love rabbits.] Conejos means rabbits. What she said was “I love balls.” Cojones means balls — and not the kind you play with. Well, on second thought some of us do. Balls as in bullocks, bollocks, nuts, or testicles. Then again, maybe she meant what she said.
On the subject of rabbits, San Geraldo drove a shiny new red Volkswagen Rabbit when we met. I was invited to a Red Brunch the next weekend in Boston’s South End. I asked him to join me. Everyone was dressed completely in red, but we added that extra touch when we parked his red Rabbit out front. I also remember an acquaintance of mine trying to pick up SG while we were at that party. He had the nerve to ask his last name so he could look him up (we were listed in phone books in those days). Oddly, I drew a blank. I mean, we had only known each other a week. I think this will be news to SG.
You’ll see in a pair of photos below why I have rabbits on my mind. The rest of the photos are some sights I saw around town in the days before I sent myself to bed. My cold lingers. No worse. Maybe even a little better in the past 12 hours. No big deal. I’m making great progress on SG’s book.
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UNA AMIGA NUESTRA EN NUEVA York estudió y trabajó en América Latina. En su primer viaje como estudiante, ella estaba entre otros estudiantes, la mayoría aún no dominaba completamente el idioma español. Estaban en un café cuando pasó un conejo. Otro estudiante gritó en español, “¡Amo cojones!” Lo que debería haber dicho fue “Amo los conejos”. Conejos significa conejos. Cojones significa pelotas, y no del tipo con el que juegas. Bueno, pensándolo bien, algunos de nosotros lo hacemos. Bolas como en bueyes, bollos, nueces o testículos. Por otra parte, tal vez ella quiso decir lo que dijo.
Sobre el tema de los conejos, San Geraldo conducía un Volkswagen Rabbit rojo nuevo y brillante cuando nos conocimos. Me invitaron a un Red Brunch el próximo fin de semana en el South End de Boston. Le pedí que se uniera a mí. Todos estaban vestidos completamente de rojo, pero agregamos ese toque extra cuando estacionamos su Conejo rojo en el frente. También recuerdo a un conocido mío tratando de recoger a SG mientras estábamos en esa fiesta. Tuvo el descaro de preguntar su apellido para poder buscarlo (en esos días estábamos incluidos en las guías telefónicas). Curiosamente, me quedé en blanco. Quiero decir, solo nos conocíamos desde una semana. Creo que esto será una novedad para SG.
Verás en un par de fotos a continuación por qué tengo conejos en mi mente. El resto de las fotos son algunas vistas que vi en la ciudad en los días antes de enviarme a la cama. Mi resfriado persiste. No peor. Quizás incluso un poco mejor en las últimas 12 horas. No es gran cosa. Estoy haciendo un gran progreso en el libro de SG.
• El belén municipal anual.
• ¿En qué día de Navidad perdió la cabeza el lechero?
• Dice “Todos los ‘invitado’ deben ser aprobados por el gato.”
[Toda “las gramática” también.]
• Sturgis, Dakota del Sur, Rally de Motos, en Fuengirola? Hemos alcanzado un nuevo mínimo.
• Me sorprendió que la camiseta de la derecha no tuviera el mismo tipo de redacción … si sabes a qué me refiero.
Anna Marie would have loved the sweatshirt on the right…with the wording!!!!
And the only thing missing from the opening picture is a nativity on the beach under that Christmas and goddess like sky. And what in the hell did happen to that figures head??? I mean the display looks to be fully enclosed, No? yes?
Mistress Borghese:
Anne Marie would have appliqued it herself! The display IS enclosed once completed. Divine intervention?
Rabbits and nativity and cojones, oh my.
At least the boys showed up!
Feel better!
Bob:
The boys ALWAYS show up. I’m slowly improving Thanks.
Who knew there was such a demand for Sturgis house slippers in Andalusia?
wickedhamster:
I wonder if the shop sells even one pair of those.
There’s a good story about wording mixups in French where the words for “sailor” and “mattress” are very similar. Someone tries to say they didn’t get a good night’s sleep because their mattress was too hard. You get the drift, LOL!
Debra:
What are the words? I need to use that some time.
Have you heard about the french guy who was trying to ride his hat? I hadn’t heard about sailor and mattress. There must be some difference between Spanish and English on singular and plural, I often hear native Spanish speakers leaving the plural off in English.
David:
There are a number of Spanish words that don’t get an S in the plural. But, in Andalusia, it’s can also be a matter of dialect. The S is often “silent” like the final R in New York City and New England. Here, Adiós sounds like Adió.
Guessing a bull kicked off the (drunken?) dairyman’s head when he tried to milk it. Grabbed the cojones, perhaps? 🙂
Mary:
That makes perfect sense.
Down the rabbit hole!
Hope your cold is gone now.
Wilma:
Not gone, but slowly improving… and boring. Did you just say what I think you said? 🙂
Ohhhhh that’s a good one!
Sorry to hear about your cold. It does feel like, with all of our masks and hand washing, that we wouldn’t still be getting colds and such, but kids at my school still are getting some kind of unidentified virus. They get tested for strep, mono, and Covid, and it’s none of those, but they feel worn out and it lingers. But, then they’re fine.
Judy C:
I’ve clearly been a bit too lax lately. I might go out again today (still no gym) but I’m back to being very careful.
And if the shirt on the right gets wording, then the one on the left needs to be re-worded to read, “My cojones!”
Steve:
Yes!
AHAHAHA, Mary is right — you have to be very careful of what you grab nowadays! At least Dudo & Moose are a picture of brotherly love… or are they just being good in anticipation of holiday teats, LOL?
Honest to Goddess, I meant to type “treats”…..AHAHAHA!
Tundra Bunny:
Oh, I’m so glad you noticed. I was going to give a wise-ass reply… but I forgot!
Tundra Bunny:
Even in those days, it was obviously a good idea to be careful what your grab. Moose was annoyed because Dudo squeezed into his spot. But they eventuall snuggled and slept.
It is stories like this one that makes me timorous to actually try to speak Spanish. Oh the embarrassment.
Urspo:
These are the best lessons. You never forget once you make a mistake like this. If every error were as funny and embarrassing, my Spanish would be perfect.
I liked the cats most