context can get you places. even if your brain takes the long route. take lago and lado for example. the first means lake, the latter, side. this morning i asked a staff member who was sharing an elevator with me:
why are there no 2nd or 3rd floors for this elevator?
because they're on the other lake.
oh...thanks.
about halfway through breakfast i realized she'd said side. about that time, i caught a preview for the new batman movie on the cafeteria television. it flashed the title:
batman: horse of the night.
that seemed odd. so i asked vicki:
cc: caballero means horse, right?
v: gentlemen. caballero means gentlemen, more or less. like on the bathroom doors.
cc: right.
v: caballo is horse.
cc: oh...thanks.
v: what made you think of that?
cc: oh, nothing really. just...batman: the dark knight...makes. more. sense.
i should have learned this lesson weeks ago in araçatuba. i couldn't figure out why dad kept starting sentences with:
a building because...
so i asked márcio:
cc: um edificio is a building, right?
m: right.
cc: then why does dad start every sentence with edificio?
m: (puzzled look. pause. laughter erupts.) edificio! edificio!
(the group conversation stops. inquiries begin. another round of laughter.)
cc: what? edificio? what's so funny? what did i say?
m: é difícil and edificio.
cc: huh?
m: they're two different things. (speaking slowly). edificio is a buliding. but he's saying é difícil. "It's difficult."
cc: (laughing despite myself). well...é difícil to hear the difference.
Copenhagen Rides On
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During the pandemic, Copenhageners could still go out, although most shops
were closed. The bicycle...
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2 comments:
It kind of reminds me of a misunderstanding I had nearly my whole year in Italy: I wondered why parents would always say to their kids, "Mira, Commando," which I believed meant something like, "Look, Commando..." I thought maybe Commando was a common term of endearment or something! I didn't realize for an embarrassingly long time that they were saying, "Mi racommando," which is like a stern "I ask you..." or "don't forget." Haha. Hmm. Yeah. :)
Haha. That's awesome, Liz. Brains and languages are pretty funny combo! this trip is definitely giving me lots of opportunities not to take myself too seriously...
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