Tuesday, August 08, 2006
More Spanglish in the Canary Islands
You can even boast your linguistic ability across your chest now.
Spanglish doesn't just refer to the errors, of course, but you have to admit that those are the most fun! And we get plenty of them on these islands to keep you amused. Just search for dodgy translations, for a good start. There's our now world-(in)famous Buenavista
There have been many hilarious examples of inedible objects on menus, but you are not safe in the local shops either. This nonsensical slogan on a a pair of little girl's knickers, found in a Tenerife supermarket, is beyond perverted.
And take this dyslexic sign (please) painted on a road in Fuerteventura. Someone once told me that it isn't actually meant to be the English word, STOP, at all. It is the initials for the Spanish phrase, "Siempre Tiene la Obligacion de Parar" (You are always obliged to stop.) Personally, I think they were probably having me on, even though it does mean that, but whichever it is, it's in the wrong order.
Why don't they simply use a Spanish word, like PARA (an order to stop)?
Then, it dawned on me that Spanglish is well rooted here. Why is El Flan - the Canary Islands' most popular desert - called El Flan and not given a Spanish name? A confusing use of Spanglish anyway, from the fact that, in English, a flan would be a filled pastry thing (tarta) and this is clearly a cream caramel?
How did we get here? Ah yes, BoingBoing pointed to a Flickr group for Engrish - the grammatically incorrect variation of English often found in Asian countries - from where my mind went off wandering on it's own. Did they have a Spanglish group, for instance? Yes they do here and one for Broken English.
Pure entertainment, of course, but English is so much fun when it's broke!
Labels: Translation Hooters
6 Comments:
Pamela wrote (on
August 09, 2006)
OK, yes, I understand that is telling me Spanish Flan is a desert made with eggs in a Bain Marie, but it doesn't actually make reference to the origin of the word.
It is still an English word too - for a different type of desert - and it looks and sounds more English than Spanish to me.
Either Spanish uses the English word or English uses the Spanish word (Spanglish) or both launguages coincidentally came up with the same word in parallel (unlikely).
wrote (on
August 09, 2006)
but it doesn't actually make reference to the origin of the word.
It does. DRAE uses to include a brief etymological note. In this case: (Del fr. flan, y este del a. al. ant. flado, torta). I.e., from the French word flan, and that one from the Old High German (a.lto al.emán ant.iguo) flado.
It's not a surprise that it sounds "English" to you, but it's just a coincidence :)
Pamela wrote (on
August 09, 2006)
Ah, missed those bits. In that case, we have both taken it from the French and/or German. It would be pedantic to wonder who borrowed it first! :)
wrote (on
August 10, 2006)
Flan: French, from Old French flaon, from Late Latin flad, fladn-, flat cake, of Germanic origin; see plat- in Indo-European roots.
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To me it sounds more Spanish than English. It comes from a latin world, anyway.
Pamela wrote (on
August 10, 2006)
Yeah, I would just point out here that the example I quoted is of a picture of El Flan that has been submitted by someone else to the Spanglish group at Flickr. And flan, though it is a different dish, is also a word now used in English, irrespective of it's origins.
Why is El Flan - the Canary Islands' most popular desert - called El Flan and not given a Spanish name?
Well. Maybe because that's the Spanish name for the desert. Just check the RAE