What is
the matter with my fuzzy brain?! Yesterday we took a hike down the hill to the
Bar Boccaccia in San Salvatore, near the train station. It took us 25 minutes
to walk down and another 30 to go up. We are hoping to do this fairly regularly
to help keep our creaky bodies in shape.
Theoretically,
exercise should help the brain, too, but maybe it just deprives my brain of
much needed oxygen, because I made another memorable language blunder. While
eating brioches, we saw a flier for a magic show to be held at the bar March 8,
and we decided we’d like to attend.
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| Bar Boccaccia, which by the way is almost directly across from the last house Nonno occupied before he left for America. |
The flier
didn’t specifically call it a magic show, it just said a magician would be
performing, so when I asked the cameriera if I could make reservation, I hadn’t
really thought through what I was going to say. What came out of my mouth was,
“Posso fare prenotazioni per due per il mostro magico?” I meant to say mostra
di magica, which would have been acceptable. Spettacolo di magica would have
been even better, because a spettacolo is used for a performance. A mostra is
more like a display, something that one would use for a photo or art exhibit.
But what
is a mostro magico, the thing I said? A magic monster, which I realized about
two seconds after the words popped out of my mouth. Luckily, I was holding the
flier in my hand, so the cameriera understood what I was trying to ask.
Reservations for the spettacolo are not needed, she said kindly, without even a
snicker at my gaffe.
The fear
of making mistakes like this could discourage me from speaking Italian, but I
decided some years ago to just open my mouth and live with the words that come
out. One has to willing to practice in order to learn, and as much as I cringed
when the mistake occurred, as time passes, the memory will gradually become
less painful and more just an entertaining anecdote. Lo spero!
Paul this is Greg Krejci. At least you are trying to learn the language and not just shouting English at them.
ReplyDeleteAlso a plus, you create entertaining anecdotes for the people to whom you speak.
DeleteSimilar gaff I made with attempted Spanish, I said "frio dios" to some Mexican workers since the day was chilly. Back, in perfect English, one gent replied, are you trying to say Cold Day? Because you proclaimed that God is cold.
ReplyDelete