Tuesday, May 01, 2018

Spanglish Ops

"Estoy limpiando", said my friend the other day as we chatted after a chance meeting at the Supermarket.  

Felix is a transplanted New Yorkrican, which is a key clue to this story.

In Spanish, "estoy limpiando" means "I am cleaning." 

"Que hay sucio?" I asked him a little puzzled ("What's dirty?").

Now he was the one looking puzzled... then it dawned on him.

He looked a little sheepish as he switched to English and told me that his foot hurt.

I was puzzled again; our conversation had skidded off the road somehow... then it dawned on me and I smiled.

Felix had taken the English verb "to limp" and added a Spanish ending to Spanglasize the verb to "limpiando" - a Spanish vern whose meaning is "to clean."

I smiled as I explained to him the whole thing... he laughed as well and then asked me what the Spanish word for "limping" is.

I searched my brain for a while looking for it... it didn't float easily at first.

"You can say 'estoy cojo'... or 'estoy medio cojo', I suggested... 75% sure.

He nodded as he grabbed a jar of Pace Picante salsa from a giant offering of a million real Mexican salsa jars.