“Hello. Elections office? I thought candidates had to keep their signs a distance away. I went to vote Tuesday and I saw a sign right at the front door that said, ‘VOTE AQUI.*’ Who is this Aqui guy, and why does he get special treatment?”
Our March 27, 2022, segment dealt with the writers’ minefield that is foreign words, phrases and images. In the past few segments, we’ve covered the different ways Americans and their British and Canadian cousins struggle with the same mother tongue. Today we talk about the influence of what all would agree is the closest thing in this country to a second language: Spanish.
Eliot, growing up in South Florida, didn’t have to actively learn Spanish. It got into his pores. He would inflict his bad Spanish on the counter people at the Cuban coffee shop. He read the Spanish-language papers. He even watched the legendary telenovelas. (¡Mi esposa! En la cama con mi hermano! ¡Morir! ¡Morir!*”)
Here are some words we stole from Spanish: (If a lot of these sound Mexican, well, duh! Look at the map!)
Patio
Burrito
Macho
Lasso
Avocado
Canyon
Tornado
Plaza
Armada
Flotilla
Vigilante
Platinum (From “plata,” “silver.”)
Buckaroo (From “vaquero,” “cowboy.” “Cow” in Spanish is “vaca.”)
Guerrilla (From guerra, war)
Mosquito (The diminutive of mosca: “little fly.”)
Alligator (From “el lagarto,” “the lizard.”)
Florida (Explorers would name new lands for the current festival back in Spain; in this case, Easter’s “Festival of the Flowers,” Pascua Florida. (PS: Juan Ponce de Leon was NOT looking for the Fountain of Youth!)
Los Angeles (from “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula;” ”The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Porciúncula River.”)
San Antonio: Anthony
San Bernardino: Bernard
San Diego, Santiago: James
San Francisco: Francis
San Jose: Joseph
San Marco: Mark
Santa Rosa: Rose
One final note: If you get frustrated with immigrants struggling with English, keep in mind that they speak at least two languages. How many do you speak?
(Special thanks to Dan Scapusio)
Watch this on video: https://youtu.be/vzU3FLgw6_E
Next time: We beat a dead horse.
From the Mailbag: Longtime reader and occasional contributor Robin Kert read our Oct. 29, 2023, Grammar Police segment on people who mix up whales and Wales. She asked, “Can you go whale watching in Wales?” Robin: Here you go.
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!