Josephine and I are developing our own way of talking, which includes a great deal of "mija" (my daughter, used endearingly ever since we heard the guys calling each other mijo) and an occasional, "que the fuck haces, chica?" (what the fuck are you doing, girl?). Josephine jokes about speaking Swanglish, but in truth she's so mixed up with English and Spanish that her native Swedish has wandered off. It took her two days to remember how to say "excited" (emocionante). "Maybe people don't get excited in Sweden?" I offered helpfully, but apparently they do. Mostly over new Ikea catalogs.
In 1998, a woman wrote a Spanglish novel called Yo-Yo Boing! Here's a little excerpt:
- Ábrela tú.
- ¿Por qué yo? Tú tienes las keys. Yo te las entregué a ti. Además, I left mine adentro.
- ¿Por qué las dejaste adentro?
- Porque I knew you had yours.
- ¿Por qué dependes de mí?
- Just open it, and make it fast.
- You open it.
- Why me? You have the keys. I gave them to you. Anyway, I left mine inside.
- Why did you leave them inside?
- Because I knew you had yours.
- Why do you always depend on me?
- Just open it, and make it fast.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Yay for comments! Nothing mean please, and that means you, Anonymous.