Free cat
Working in a Spanish restaurant as a waitress I once served a Spanish family some meat, in which they found maggots! Desperate to save the situation I apologised profusely, and to make up, offered them some free cake. Not knowing the word for cake, I used the French word ²µÃ¢³Ù±ð²¹³Ü. ³Òâ³Ù±ð²¹³Ü sounds like gato, which in Spanish means 'cat'! They fled.
Editor's note: The Spanish word for cake is el pastel.
Sent by: Judi
Comments
While proud of my conversational Spanish, there seem to be some phrases with which I am not familiar. Back in 1991, I was in Tijuana, Mexico, for the day with some friends - all of whom were true native speakers, except for me. We came upon a distressed-looking couple who asked me ¿Trae usted un gato en su carro que nos pueda prestar? In perfect Spanish, I asked them 'Why would I have a cat in my car ... and what do you want with a cat?' They explained that they needed something to lift their car with so they could change a flat tyre. I felt kind of dumb for my deficiency in Spanish, but was more than happy to loan them my gato, car-jack!
Flag this comment