La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
I know what the Anglophiles are thinking: “How rude!” Fanny in American English usually means rear end (butt, tush, hind quarters, ass). In British, you would have to go around front (on a woman) to discover what it means.
My mother liked to wear a fanny pack when sightseeing. In England, that’s known as a bum bag (bum being a British term for a rear end). Every time my mother would visit our English family, they would be mortified when she referred to her “fanny pack.” But, they never told her what it meant. This came to mind when I completed the New York Times mini crossword puzzle the other day.
I have been very good at limiting my sugar intake. Of course I splurge every now and then (since much of my life has been lived for chocolate), but my sugars have been fine, so I can afford the splurge. However, friends of ours arrived from England with two packages of Lindt chocolates. The chocolates started off in my office where I inhaled many Wednesday afternoon. (They’re now in the kitchen and I haven’t had one since.)
I forgot I had an appointment with the diabetes nurse at Public Health first thing Thursday morning. Everyone knows you save your splurges until after the blood tests. I don’t like the particular nurse that was there that day. The prick… I mean she pricked my finger and told me my sugars were slightly high. What a surprise. Then I got the whole spiel about what to eat, what not to eat, what shoes to wear, never to go barefoot. Yada yada yada. However, I did vow to myself I would clean up my act.
Then again, Lulu is back in town and she always brings us sweet treats (when all she needs to do is bring us her sweet self). She picked up Finnish pastries on her way to meet us for coffee Friday morning. San Geraldo ate his when we got home. I had mine to kick off breakfast today.
I went for a long, exhausting healthy walk Friday afternoon. After walking for more than an hour, I began to feel a bit weak (seriously) and remembered the only thing I had had to eat was my tostada at Mesón Salvador in the morning. So I stopped for some nourishment. The first place I spotted (ignoring all the healthy places around it) was La Abuela (The Grandmother) ice cream shop. I had a medium-sized cup with fondant chocolate and mango ice cream. And, oh my god, it was the best. Diabetic diet goes back in place now.
Sé lo que piensan los anglófilos: “¡Qué groseros!”. Fanny en inglés americano generalmente significa trasero (culo). En británico, habría que dar la vuelta al frente (a una mujer) para descubrir lo que significa. A mi madre le gustaba usar una riñonera cuando hacía turismo. En Inglaterra, eso se conoce como bum bag (bum es un término británico para referirse al trasero). Cada vez que mi madre visitaba a nuestra familia inglesa, se mortificaban cuando ella se refería a su “fanny pack”. Pero nunca le dijeron lo que significaba. Esto me vino a la mente cuando completé el mini crucigrama del New York Times el otro día.
He sido muy bueno limitando mi consumo de azúcar. Por supuesto, derrocho de vez en cuando (ya que gran parte de mi vida la he vivido para el chocolate), pero mis niveles de azúcar han estado bien, así que puedo permitirme ese derroche. Sin embargo, unos amigos nuestros llegaron de Inglaterra con dos regalos de chocolates Lindt. Los chocolates comenzaron en mi oficina, donde inhalé muchos el miércoles por la tarde. (Ahora están en la cocina y no he tenido uno desde entonces).
Olvidé que tenía una cita con la enfermera de diabetes en Salud Pública a primera hora del jueves por la mañana. Todo el mundo sabe que uno guarda los derroches hasta después de los análisis de sangre. No me gusta la enfermera en particular que estaba allí ese día. Me pinchó el dedo y me dijo que tenía el azúcar un poco alto. Que sorpresa. Luego me dieron toda la perorata sobre qué comer, qué no comer, qué zapatos usar y nunca andar descalzo. Bla bla bla. Sin embargo, me prometí a mí mismo que limpiaría mis actos.
Por otra parte, Lulu está de regreso en la ciudad y siempre nos trae dulces (cuando todo lo que necesita hacer es traernos su dulce personalidad). Compró pasteles finlandeses cuando iba a reunirse con nosotros para tomar un café el viernes por la mañana. San Geraldo se comió el suyo cuando llegamos a casa el viernes. Tomé el mío para empezar el desayuno hoy.
El viernes por la tarde salí a dar una caminata larga, agotadora y saludable. Después de caminar más de una hora, comencé a sentirme un poco débil (en serio) y recordé que lo único que había comido fue mi tostada en el Mesón Salvador por la mañana. Entonces me detuve para comer algo. El primer lugar que vi (ignorando todos los lugares saludables a su alrededor) fue la heladería La Abuela. Tomé una taza mediana con chocolate fondant y helado de mango. Y, Dios mío, fue lo mejor. La dieta para diabéticos vuelve a estar vigente ahora.
• Necesito encontrar un nuevo hogar para estos. No la nuestra.
• El de San Geraldo estaba lleno de fresa y por eso lo eligió.
• El mío estaba relleno de mazapán y por eso lo elegí.
• Hablando de bollos.
• Una dulce y romántica (?) oportunidad para tomar fotografías en nuestro barrio.
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Nice buns!
David:
And I know which ones you’re talking about. Incredible!
My father was SO fortunate that he never had to worry about diabetes in spite of it being in his family. So he had sweets every day of his 103 years of life. He was lucky. Now Mr. Man you are not that lucky so please be careful and keep those sweets for company…..maybe.
Jim:
I have my two grandmothers to thank for the diabetes apparently.
Well, at least when you indulge, you do it with the good stuff. Otherwise- what’s the point, right? Mr. Moon gave me a box of Godiva chocolates for Valentine’s Day and we each had one last night. COMPLETELY disappointing. We shall just have to go back to the homemade truffles.
I hate it when someone tries to enlighten me about the foods I should and should not eat. Yes. I am aware that soda has sugar in it. Juice too. No, I do not drink them. Etc.
I do not think I even need to comment on those black-clad buns of Senior Policia Local. They speak for themselves.
Ms. Moon
Ms. Moon:
Absolutely. I don’t waste my cheats on Hersheys. As for choosing between Godiva and your homemade truffles: How ya gonna keep em down on the farm! (Godiva is the farm in this case.) I couldn’t look away from those policia buns: I’m glad he spent so much time there.
Yes. I recall being well confused about the word ‘fanny’. Hearing on TV any American referring to a MAN’s fanny sounded so odd. Even now when I hear it I have to do a double-take.
Raybeard:
It’s such an innocent word in the USA.
Yes, I gather that. Here, as you’ll know, it’s literally equivalent to the ‘c’-word.
Well thank heavens I wasn’t there and saw those buns, for I probably would have been arrested… police in uniform get me hot anyhow. And there is still far too many sweets in this house too.
When you were in New York it’s a good thing you didn’t go into my favorite candy store Marie Belle. Your sugar intake for sure would have run through the roof, and the store so beautiful you want to buy everything.
Mistress Borghese:
I found it hard (as in difficult… well as in hard, too) to look away from that policia. Wow! Oh, I love Marie Belle. And I keep my distance.
Apparently fanny packs are making a fashion comeback these days, but are now more commonly called “belt bags,” or “waist bags,” it seems. I thought ridicule had driven them from the scene forever, but they are resilient.
Debra:
“Waist bag” has such a terrible sound.
It’s great that you took a long, healthy, wonderful walk!
I do the Mini-C everyday, along with Wordle and Connections. I bet you zoooooom through the Mini-C, since you are a seasoned NYTimes Crossword guy. The other day, I got stuck on the Mini-C until I had to do the “check puzzle”… I kept looking at every word and could not at all figure out what one letter was wrong. Turned out that I had typed in a 0 (zero) in place of an O (letter)…duuuuuh!
Judy C:
I do zoom through the Mini-C but then I’ve thus far not accidentally entered a ZERO.
Isn’t it funny how words can have totally different meanings. Fanny is a word I’ve never used much. I have other words I prefer for all of the anatomy it covers. I figure you don’t want me to list them.
Kelly:
Feel free to share!
I’ve been known to say I don’t have to worry about a purse snatcher, no one could snatch my purse and run because I wear a fanny pack, that they’d have to run with me attached to it. Now, I’ll have to change that to “bum bag” ….. though bum bag sounds less appropriate than fanny. I’m curious … why the instructions to never go barefoot?
Shirley:
Truth is that warning is meant primarily for diabetics who suffer from peripheral neuropathy. You can cut or injure your foot and not feel it, causing more serious injury or infection. I do not have neuropathy. I appreciate that this nurse takes things seriously but she is extremely alarmist and to me at least makes living with diabetes terrifying.
Funny about the fanny pack. I heard an American friend recently saying she’d been mortified when she used the term in the UK and people stared!
I’m guessing you have to protect the tootsies because they’re diabetes-delicate?
I love how you restored your strength with a really dodgy snack, but so good.
That was me, Liz, aka Boud
LizBoud:
The warning about the feet is primarily intended for people who have peripheral neuropathy and might not feel if they cut or injure their feet. Also wounds can heal more slowly in a diabetic, especially in the feet. When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, that was the nurse I ended up being sent to. She had me terrified, which didn’t help at all. I’ve since read more and also met with a much less alarmist nurse.
Hello Mr. Policeman!
When Dave first started teaching in London, he’d tell his band students to “move their fanny back” in their chairs in order to play their instruments correctly. There was a lot of snickering, especially among his British colleagues, but they held off on telling him why to get more laughs from the situation.
Steve:
Yes, I couldn’t stop looking at Mr. Policeman. I was grateful he posed long enough for a couple of behind the scenes shots.
Well hello Policia. Talk about packing a fanny….
Sassybear:
Those pants were well-stuffed.
I’ve always thought it should be called a hip pack, so I’m with the Brits on this.
Kirk:
I agree that hip pack would solve the entire problem.
I refer to mine as a ‘bum bag’
Urspo:
I do, too, since the English speakers here are not American.
Not sure Bun Bag is any better… Just toss them all out.
You always find the best sweets.
Is it possible to send me your address ? Email angryparsnip@ gmail.com
Parsnip,
Bum bag is t much better. But since they’re considered so uncool, designers are now calling them by different names. Address on the way.
I remember my mother using a fanny pack but our entire family was American so it didn’t really matter what we called it
Adam,
I never heard it called anything else in the States.