Wednesday, January 19, 2011

That’s Mister Señor

When I mention I have a son on a mission in Uruguay, some who know Spanish condescendingly turn on the Ricky Ricardo voice and say “OO-a-gu-ay.” Or something Spanish sounding. It's amusing. Call me old school, but if I start a sentence in English I like to end it in English. After all, when Ricky tells me his kid is in Germany I don't wince and tell him it’s pronounced “Deutschland.”

But I will make an exception for the Tehas, Saint Anthony mission - you know, home to the Alamo. Mixing Spanish and English in the same sentence is quite common there. The locals call it Spanglish. It’s a bit endearing, but as one frustrated employer put it, “It’s not bilingual, it’s being illiterate in two languages.”

So I'll continue to pronounce "Uruguay" in Lucy's language while enjoying the inevitable Ricky impersonations that will follow.

1 comment:

  1. We have a school picture of me that is evidence of Spanglish. The photographer said something to me in Spanglish and took the picture just as I said, "huh?"

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