So, despite living here for over three months, I am still learning lots of new words. I went on a walk to the Botanic Garden today with a friend and her son, and we started talking about cars. She had just bought an "estate" car and was trying to explain the type of car to me. I thought the estate was the make/model of the car, so I said, "no, I have no clue what kind of car that is." It wasn't until we saw one of these driving around the corner that she said, "look, it has a large boot that opens up," that I realized it just means a station wagon and not a particular model. She got quite a kick out of us calling them station wagons. If you think about it, I guess it's pretty strange that we call them that, I mean how many people use a big trunk to pick up people or things from stations in the US. Really, nobody even goes to stations in the US. And I guess people here who live in the county or on an estate would use the big trunk, or boot, to haul dogs, garden equipment or the like. Since pick up trucks are non existent here, an estate car would be the next best vehicle to have. That being said, I did just see a Mazda pick-up (about the size of Simon's old Ford Ranger) this week driving down the road and I though to myself "that's a HUGE and MONSTEROUS vehicle, what could they possible use it for?" Oh, how my ideas of car sizes have changed! That'll happen when you drive around in a golf cart for three months!
Oh, and get these other funny English to American translations...
to hoover = to vacuum
plasters = band-aids
gaffer tape = duct tape
gaffer = boss or manager
sello tape = scotch tape
cling wrap = plastic wrap or Saran wrap
buggy or push chair = stroller
courgette = zucchini
jab = shot (as in a vaccination)
skip = garbage dumpster
tea = tea the drink but also dinner
nappy = diaper
biscuit = cookie (I love this one! I don't feel guilty about eating a whole box of buscuits!!! tee hee hee)
dado level = I'm still trying to figure this one out, but from what I can tell it's approximately waist to chest height.... It's used in real estate when they say that a room has wood panelling or is tiled to that particular "dado" level on the wall.
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From the mundane to the extraordinary and all sorts in between - here you‘ll find out how the Cathcart-Mudd family is faring this European adventure of ours.
From the mundane to the extraordinary and all sorts in between - here you‘ll find out how the Cathcart-Mudd family is faring this European adventure of ours.
1 comment:
That was fun!
And I hear you on the "station wagon" - Spaniards always get a kick of my Mexican Spanish when I say "manejar" (instead of "conducir"), "rentar" (instead of "alquilar"), "carro" (instead of "coche") and a bunch of other ones.. and just like you, the explanation for us Mexicans calling them something that sounds "old" to the Spaniards is that that is the "old" word we got from them. Interesting thing... language :) Especially how it evolves :)
Still. I will never never never call it a "flat" :) Or a nappy. That just sounds like the diaper is taking a nap :)
Hope you guys had a good weekend! And keep the lessons coming!
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