Today, I rented a car and no one in the office spoke a lick of English. I soldiered on and got the job done and actually felt proud of myself. But if the truth be known, I've committed an unknown number of atrocities with the Spanish language. I've cut a wide swath across greater Argentina with linguistic gaffs. The people are very tolerant and even sometimes encouraging. Yet, I see their eyes slide away in discomfort as they realize what I'm trying to say but hear the mangled way it's coming out.
My defense is to collect translations from Spanish into English in brochures and signs. As I waited in the car rental office, I read their brochure and found the following. It starts with the rather strange form of address: "Dear Passenger:" Then, they make a strong start: "we welcome you and it's a pleasure for Horizontes Patagonicos to be your host in this city." So far so good. But in the next line, the wheels come off: "Our arm is to hierarchize the quality of our services in order to satisfy your needs." I know what they want to say but the word "hierarchize" isn't all that common in English speaking countries. The closing line makes a strong return to form with the exception of saying that they will "transmit" information to us.
I'm sure your warmth and sense of fun needs no translation. The car rental people probably all went home that night and told their friends about the Yankee who was so nice but whose words went so crazy.
ReplyDeleteYou got through it and are probably relieved. I'm sure you're doing better than most of us would! Enjoy the beauty of winter coming to the southern hemisphere!
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