Several years ago right before the winter break from school, I wandered into the classroom right next door to mine and wished them a Happy New Year. Since it was an ESL (English as a Second Language) class, and the majority of them spoke Spanish as their first language, I thought I’d be real cool and say it in their native language. I walked in and in my best Spanish accent wished them a Happy New Year. They burst out laughing. The entire class. Totally oblivious to my major faux pas, I innocently asked them what was so funny. Nobody would tell me, and not just because they were too busy laughing. Finally the teacher chose one student she knew wouldn’t get completely embarrassed or crass and he told me “You just wished us a Happy New Butt”. (The teacher later told me that butt was the cleaned up version of what I actually said.) Who knew the word for year and ass were one simple syllable away in Spanish. Not me, but now I do. So, to all out there: Feliz Año Nuevo.
1 comment:
Remind me sometime to tell you my tale of trying to teach Spanish speakers to sing Jingle Bells. :)
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