Alan’s Anecdotes
ALAN’S ANECDOTES ALAN SPARROW
When I was in college, I spent quite a bit of time with foreign students. I learned a lot from them. I loved hearing their stories and their perspectives on things. One of the things I remember the most are stories they told about words. The thing about words is that they are so familiar that we can miss aspects of their meaning.
A friend from Costa Rica was a Spanish speaker, but he went to a private German school. A German teacher pointed out a funny thing about Spanish that he had never considered. The word in Spanish for handcuffs is “esposas” which can also mean “wives.” My fried grew up speaking the language, but never caught that until someone else pointed it out to him.
Another friend from Brazil told a story about visiting a Spanish speaking family for dinner. He didn’t speak Spanish, but Portuguese is similar enough that they could communicate well. During the meal he asked the hostess to pass the spatula, but the Portuguese word he used meant something completely different in Spanish. The word meant a female body part. They laughed and told him what he said. He replied that he was so “embarazado” which means “pregnant” in Spanish.
Somethingthathasmademeponder the most was something I learned in my Latin class in high school. I had a great teacher who made the class fun. We learned a lot about ancient culture and history, but a couple of the Latin words that stood out to me were the words for right and left. The word for right is “dexter” in which we get the word dexterous. The word for left is “sinister.” Those meanings go back thousands of years. They probably didn’t stand out to the speakers of the day like they might to you and me. And the meanings certainly weren’t political. It’s interesting how the words have translated and evolved over time.
I’ll finish with one last word story. When I was a kid, I told my grandmother a joke I thought was clever. I told her, “I would give my left arm to be ambidextrous.” She replied with a slightly exasperated tone, “Oh, you kids use such big words!” I can’t remember if I explained it to her, but if you have to explain a joke, it’s not funny.
So what are some of your favorite words with strange or funny meanings? I bet there are some great Swedish words or phrases that fit in this category.
Alan Sparrow is co-owner of the Polk County News. Find his column, Alan’s Anecdotes, each week in the newspaper and online at www.polkcountynews. net.
