Snarky English Language Lesson #1
Posted by Cracker on November 15th, 2009Sure, I have a much harder time with Spanish (i.e. I don’t know it) than Senor does with English (i.e. he’s fluent), but this is my blog so I can tease him. So here’s Snarky Language Lesson #1.
Is it just me or does this thief look alarmingly naked?
Senor has a problem distinguishing between “rob” and “steal.” This is great, because sometimes he’ll come out with things like “Her house got stolen!”
Then I get to say things like, “Now way! Are they sure it wasn’t a tornado?”
Then he pouts and yells “MAMI!”
I’m not kidding. He really does that.
To help Senor get over this little language difficulty, I use this example:
When you rob something, you take something out of it. When you steal something, you take it with you.
You can rob a house, but you can’t steal a house.
…Unless you’re a banker.
Stay tuned for more Snarky English Lessons, and better yet… *dun dun dun* Snarky Spanish Lessons for me. Oh my.
Tags: Snarky English Lessons
Oh I get such a kick out of these lessons! My husband’s stepmom used to start dancing whenever he’d say he was “getting down” from the car. Even though he was born here and is more fluent in English than Spanish, some of these things just stick.
For me, even though I’m completely fluent in both, I’m sometimes at a loss for words in English when I’m talking about kitchenware. I think it has to do with the fact that in our household growing up, we were only allowed to speak Spanish, and where else but in a domestic setting do you really talk about colanders and ladles? I was at a friend’s house recently, helping her cook, and she got a big kick out of me, an English major, forgetting words.
Hi Natalia,
Oh you hit the nail right on the head. Prepositions are the worst! In Spanish, I just say everything is “en,” even if that’s not right. It seems like it usually it!
I think Senor has it much harder. I can tell when he’s guessing which preposition to use. He’ll say things like “The mail is in the table” or “I’ll wait on the house.” Like you, he’s completely fluent, but just has that funny little gap. (And who can blame him? We have zillions of prepositions!)
I’ve noticed another funny language thing. English speakers get all crazy when someone gets a word wrong. I’m just as guilty as the next person of being unable to rest until I’ve corrected a mistaken word or pronunciation. Spanish speakers on the other hand, let you stumble along, smile at your attempt, and THEN correct you. Have you noticed the same?