One of the biggest problem has been with words that are gender non-specific. With a word like “saint”, “patient” or “teacher” it’s unclear whether it refers to male or female, whereas in Spanish you have the pairs santa/santo, profesor/profesora, and with words like paciente it’s simply a question of changing the gender of the article: el paciente/la paciente.
Continue reading “found wanting”
Yesterday, I had coffee with a friend who works in the Torre Espacio. I hadn’t been to Madrid’s “Four Towers” business park before and it was quite impressive.
Oddly, though, I found it more dizzying to look up at the tower than to look down from the 41st floor. (The Tower has 57 floors above ground, but your pass gives access only to “need-to-know” areas.)
No photos from inside as I’m limited to a phone camera at the moment, and phones had to be checked in at the security desk.
And, yes, the sky really was that blue and cloudless.
Well, maths matters to me, which is why it bothered me when I saw this advert in Madrid.
The caption echoes a Spanish refrán, though I’m not sure which is the original version. I’ve found both “Lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno” (attributed to Baltasar Gracián), and “Lo bueno, si barato, dos veces bueno”.
Both are valid points, but in the Burger King ad, the sums don’t add up: Chicken, if it’s 100% chicken, is not twice chicken.
Gracián’s phrase is best translated as “Less is more”, and is excellent advice for writers. A more literal translation would be, “If it’s good, and it’s short, it’s doubly good.”
The quote is often followed up with something to the effect that “lo malo, si breve, no tan malo.” – “if it’s bad, and it’s short, it’s not so bad.”
Either way, I’d better stop now.
Not all the local flora is as reminiscent of my childhood as yesterday’s plane trees. This, the madroño, (arbutus unedo), is called a strawberry tree in English, and, although it’s been introduced elsewhere as an ornamental shrub, the only part of the British Isles where it’s native is Ireland.
Esperanza Aguirre, the presidenta of the comunidad de Madrid who described herself as “el verso suelto dentro del poema” has come up with another quotable phrase: “Yo no hablo cuando llevo zapatos planos.” – “I won’t make a statement when I’m wearing flat shoes.”
Most women are familiar with the concept of getting dressed and putting our make-up on before making an important phone call, and I guess this is much the same thing. The problem is the psychological reasoning behind it.
Continue reading “tall tales”
don't confuse the narrator 