What a delicious cat!
Years ago when I was in college, I was studying first year Spanish after studying French. I was in the International Club and was invited over to the house of a graduate student and his wife from Chile.We finished eating a wonderful meal and the wife brought out a wonderful cake. After eating it I said ¡El gato es delicioso!The little boy and parents looked at me strangely. Then I pointed and said it again.The husband told me I had said 'The cat is delicious.'I explained to him that in French le ²µÃ¢³Ù±ð²¹³Ü is 'cake' and I thought it was the same in Spanish. Oops!
Editor's note: In Spain, a small individual cake is un pastel, a bigger celebration cake is una tarta.
Sent by: Marylin
Comments
Thanks, Kathy, for reminding me of a word I haven't heard in awhile, bizcocho.
Oh, I completely relate to this! I once told my Spanish teacher about how there were 15 velas en mi gato - "15 candles on my cat"!!!!
If this was the kind of cake we know as le ²µÃ¢³Ù±ð²¹³Ü in French then in Spanish it could be la tarta as well.
La torta in some latin countries, especialy in Mexico, means a large sandwich.
I started studying French after studying Spanish. A sentence in the text read le ²µÃ¢³Ù±ð²¹³Ü est delicieux! and at first I was horrified, thinking that ²µÃ¢³Ù±ð²¹³Ü meant 'cat'.
Something very similar happened to me in Puerto Rico!
I was invited to lunch to meet the family of my boyfriend, up in the mountains of Naranjito. The women of the house had prepared a delicious meal that included goat, fried plaintains and rice. Every one of us was digging in heartily -- brothers, sisters, young cousins, aunts and uncles, and my boyfriend's beautiful, dignified "abuelita" ("grandmother"), 80 years old, who sat at the head of the table.
Now, in Spanish - at least in the Spanish of the Caribbean - "goat on the plate" is "cabrito".
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