Language Blunders

HORNBLOWER

I was asked what kind of animals live in Massachusetts. Since I didn't know the word for “deer”, I was trying to describe it. One of the ladies asked if they have horns. I replied, “Si, los varónes tienen cuernos”, after which there was uproarious laughter by every single person in the truck. I thought that what I said meant, “Yes, the males have horns.” Since varón is translated in English as “male”, I figured I was saying it correctly.

However, this blunder was hilarious for two reasons.

1.The word varón is only used in reference to human males. The word for a male animal is macho. So what I basically said was closer to “The gentlemen have horns.”

2.There is an expression in Spanish (of which I was also ignorant) that goes: “ponerle los cuernos a alguien” which means “to be unfaithful to someone”. So when I said “los varónes tienen cuernos”, it was like I was saying they all cheat on the female deer.




ACCENTS


Sometimes people speak either too fast, too slurred, with an unusual accent, or any such similar thing, that I can't understand them even though I could if the words were written out in front of me.

So one rather embarrassing moment very early on was when Marcus was introducing me to one of the elders in Orizaba. He asked me what my name was, but because of the way he said it, I just stood there with a dumb look on my face trying to figure out what he was saying. The look on poor Marcus' shocked face was like: “WHAT?!!! You graduated with a degree in Spanish and you don't know '¿Cómo te llamas?'!!!"

We laughed about it later when I explained why I was having trouble, but boy did I feel dumb in the moment!




HERESY

One of the first times I heard Marcus preach, he directed us to turn to the book of San Manuel (Saint Manuel). What?! What was this, some heretical fifth gospel?! Oh wait, nevermind, what he said was actually "Primer Samuel" - 1st Samuel.






BONES OF CONTENTION

I had just made scones. Marcela and Lorena told me it was very good and wondered what was in it. While listing off the ingredients, I accidentally said it had bones (huesos), when I really meant to say eggs (huevos).



MATRIMONY

Twice now, I have heard wrong in regards to the same thing.

The first time, I was asking my friend what we should do next. This is what I THOUGHT I heard:

Me: Que quieres? [What do you want?]
My friend: Casamos. [Let's get married.]

What had actually been said was "Que hacemos?" [What do we do?]


The second time this happened, we were crossing the road and I thought my friend said: "Vamos a casar." [Let's get married.] What was really said was: "Vamos a cruzar." [Let's cross.]



OLD ANXIETIES

One day Lorena looked really worried. Being the good friend that I am, I decided to go over to her and see if she wanted to talk about it. So I put on my serious face and asked: "¿Estás anciana?" She looked at me with this horrified face and then I realized what I'd done. I had just asked her if she was elderly, when what I really meant to ask was, "¿Estás anciosa?" - "Are you anxious?"






...and there are more to come in the future, I'm sure.