They say "chévere" in Minnesota??

Once upon a time I met a young woman named Tania who was almost as big a language nerd as I am.  I knew this fact alone was to ensure our lifelong friendship.  One day, Tania was showing her friend Dafne and me some pretty hilarious videos on Youtube addressing such entertaining topics as Spanglish and language confusion.  One such video, entitled Habla Alberto, discussed the unfortunate misunderstanding that happened when the subject of the video, Alberto, would tell people he was from Venezuela.  People tended to misunderstand him and think that he said he was from Minnesota.  Tania, Dafne and I scoffed at such silliness...who could ever confuse "Venezuela" for "Minnesota"?

The very next day the three of us were merrily exploring the sites of New York City when once again the topic of language arose.  Dafne began to discuss the different places in which the slang word chévere is used to express what in English we would call cool.  Intrigued and confused by one of the places that had been mentioned, I said to Dafne, "Really?  They say chévere in Minnesota?  Why would they say that there?"  Alas, as Tania and Dafne broke into guffaws of laughter, I realized that I had become yet another perpetrator of the tragic mistaking of the word "Venezuela" for "Minnesota."  I hung my head in shame.

To this day, Tania relates this story to virtually everyone she talks to.  We'll see how long our friendship lasts after all.

A Misunderstanding in Scotland

I have been traveling quite a bit this summer, and I thought I'd start out with a post about a funny miscommunication that happened a few days ago in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Me: "Have you been able to make it to any of the festival shows?"

Friendly Scottish Hotel Worker: "No, unfortunately I haven't."

Me: "Oh no, why not?"

FSHW: "Well, last week I was on vacation."

Me: "Oh, how nice!  Where did you go?"

FSHW: "I was in Motor."

Me: "...I'm sorry, where?"

FSHW: "Motor."

Me: "Hm, I don't think I have ever heard of that place..."

FSHW: "It's an island just south of Sicily."

It was then I realized that what I had been hearing as "Motor" was actually the island of "Malta."  Thankfully the friendly gentleman had a good sense of humor about it.  I guess the American-Scottish language barrier got the better of me!