One for the Correctors Union’s hunt-the-error day today. This torrent lined with Andalusian auto-construction on the edge of Planas de Vallvidrera is gradually being overrun by wild boar: I imagine things got rather like this when the Romans left Britain.
–From Spain are you? I’ve got a flat in Denia, very nice indeed. I get on fine with the locals. –In what language? –We’re getting quite good at the old Spanish. “Dos coffee con lechy”. That means… –I think I know that one.
The name is actually rather interesting. There’s a rule in standard Spanish that says that y is substituted by e before words beginning with i or hi, except when y forms the beginning of an exclamation or question, and except before words beginning with y or hie. However, I’ve never heard of a corresponding rule…
My feedreader’s having problems with diacritics, so LaVa says: El coche de Lady Di pudo haber chocado con otro “veh?culo grande”. Don’t think the Pharaoh of Alexandria’s tried that one yet.
In Ferrol, Galicia, Spain you can get traffic fines annulled by exercising your constitutional right to receive notifications in Spanish instead of the Galician preferred by the local council, which seems to be unable to effect translations.
@ Tecnología obsoleta: Darás lo singular por universal. Ocultarás el trabajo acabado y darás por naturales las mercancías y los textos culturales. Te servirás de falsas analogías. Darás la impresión de objetividad, con el fin de ocultar tu posicionamiento personal. En todo tema de discusión, trazarás cuidadosamente los límites de lo aceptable. En otros términos,…
Tutto Pavarotti was the title of the great man’s best-selling album, but even this proved a linguistic step too far for Spanish audiences. At concerts on the tour he was alarmed to see them rise en masse and chant “Tutto! Tutto!” in the belief that this was his first name.
Manuel Fraga goes into a bar, walks up to a man eating tripe, punches him in the face, and starts eating the tripe himself. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?” cries the man. “I paid for that!” “Fuck off,” snarls Fraga, “los callos son míos.” (The Salvador Dalí version of this has a…