When you’re learning Spanish, one of the most defining features is the use of the feminine and masculine, primarily in describing nouns. Most gringos pick-up on this right away and begin adding “o” to the end of every word. You know you’ve done it like a million times-o.
I’ve always enjoyed learning the masculine and the feminine and trying to understand the thought process behind it. Like “el cuchillo,” which means knife. I can always remember it because boys are kind of violent so knives are masculine. Now “la cuchara” is a spoon– curvy and girlie and therefore feminine. Then you have things like “el sostén” which means bra… is masculine. Go figure.
When I lived in Spain they did the same exact thing, but they thought English is all “tions.” Operation, translation, imagination… which is kind of funny because every –tion in English is –ción in Spanish. I guess we all have our foreign language stereotypes.
Yesterday we’re driving down Broad on our way to Nate’s baseball game and the car in front of us just doesn’t seem to know what they want to do. They have their left turn signal on. They veer toward the center turning lane and then veer back out. They slow down and then speed up and then slow down again. Finally the car turns left and James says, “Keep it moving, Weirdo!”
Nate looks at the driver of the car and determines it’s a lady, “Weirda, Daddy, it’s Weirda.”