The poem I posted a couple of days ago had the Virgin Mary complaining that her sandals weren’t letizios, which is a relatively new entry into Spanish fashion-speke and refers to the high-heeled, peep-toe style of shoe that is such a favourite with Doña Letizia, the wife of the heir to the throne.
That got me thinking about the different garments the Spanish have named after famous women.
Continue reading “female style”
When I wrote the post about the PP’s Rescate game earlier, I visited their web site to see if I could actually see or play the game myself. The page (http://www.ppcatalunya.com/rescate/) loads but there’s no game there. What there is, is a little diagonal strap across the top left hand corner with the slogan hablando claro – speaking clearly:
Clicking on it takes you to a ten-point survey.
Continue reading “plain speaking”
The first time I heard the phrase Hoy por ti; mañana por mí I was amazed at the no-nonsense approach to helping others that it seemed to encapsulate.
The closest we seem to come to it in English is “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”, though I don’t think that’s quite the same, as the English idiom implies a real one-to-one reciprocity.
Continue reading “hoy por ti”
I went into the local agricultural supplies store to buy cat food and the guy looked up and said “¿pienso?”.
I’ll admit I was sorely tempted to reply, “lo dudo” as he’s not the brightest crayon in the box: he’s more the sort who “just sits” without much in the way of thinking going on. 
Anyway, he really meant pienso as a noun – alimento para el ganado. Well, I’d never thought of our semi-ferals as livestock, but there’s certainly a small herd of them. (And, as the guy in the EDS advert says, “Herding cats? don’t let anybody tell you it’s easy.”)
Continue reading “food for thought”
There’s a general strike planned in Spain for this coming Wednesday and this advert appears in El Público today:
The call to action comes from the Izquierda Unida, the main left wing party in Spain (as opposed to the PSOE – the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party – currently in power and not half as left wing as the name might lead you to expect).
Whatever my sympathies might be for the left, and for those who intend to strike, I object to the phrase nosotras y nosotros.
Continue reading “of gender and generalities”
don't confuse the narrator 