Lost In Translation

Quite a few people have asked me recently if I have any amusing or embarassing mistranslation stories.

Of course, I make several errors in my Spanish daily. Mostly, they're just boring mistakes - mispronounciation, using the wrong verb tail, confusing my tenses, etc. etc.

Similarly, the people around me who are speaking English - generally in English classes - make plenty of mistakes, too. (I've noticed that many of them have trouble in asking the time; I often get "What time it is o'clock?" and "When is the hour?")

There are a couple of times in which words that sound similar in English and Spanish have brought confusion, though. So here are a few anecdotes, in all their vaguely-amusing glory!

All I Wanted Was Some Food -

In my very first week in Spain, my host mother greeted me after school with the usual "¿Qué tal?" (="How are you?"). I responded, in my very slow and halting Spanish, "Muy bien, pero ¡estoy hombre!"

Which I thought meant "Very good, but I'm hungry!"

Turns out, with my confusion of vowels and grammar errors, I'd actually said; "Very good, but I'm a man at the moment!"

Isabel had a good chuckle.

Toilet Humour Ahead, Beware -

A friend of mine, Sergio, was away from school sick for a week. Upon returning, my English Conversation Class teacher, Rachel, put him on the spot by asking him why he'd been away.

He thought for a moment, before responding with "I don't know how to say it."

Rachel told him to have a guess, assuring him that it was probably very similar to the Spanish.

So, he tried his luck with "I had constipate?"

Turns out, 'constipado' means 'a cold' in Spanish. Rachel had to explain to the poor, clueless class why she and I were doubled over laughing.

Embarrassment, Or Not -

For all I know, I accidentally started a rumour about myself earlier this week!

We were playing volleyball in PE at school, and I was thumped hard in the chest with the ball during the game. I was a little winded, but otherwise fine. However, my classmates were all immediately concerned, rushing up to me to check if I was okay.

Now, I'd heard people saying 'embarazadas', and I'd assumed it meant 'embarassed'. Seems reasonable, right? I just shook my head, therefore, and said:

"¡Estoy bien! Solo un poco embarazada."

"I'm fine! Only a bit embarassed." = what I was trying to say.

"I'm fine! Only a bit pregnant." = what I actually said.

Oh dear. It took my PE teacher, who doesn't speak any English at all, a bit of time to cotton on.