Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brief primer on one important difference between English and Spanish. Somewhere along the linguistic ladder, people stopped using \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thee\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thou\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in English, whereas the Romance languages, for example Spanish, retained forms like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usted.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speculate as to whether the use of particular word combinations determines respect, or lack thereof, or is the result of it. Which came first?<\/p>\n
Let me explain:<\/p>\n
Once, when I was a child, my dad asked me \u00e2\u20ac\u201d in front of company \u00e2\u20ac\u201d to explain whatever I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d learned that day in the classroom of Sister Mary Migrainia at Immaculate Conception School. Dad called me by my baptismal name, Arturo, which prompted an answer in Spanish, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfQue?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Big mistake. Why? First, we had company, and whatever carelessness and callousness we ever displayed when alone needed to be rectified when we had guests. Second mistake: In our house, one never responded to an elder\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s question with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfque?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I saw Dad was both annoyed and embarrassed over my paucity of ethics, as he explained in front of his guests, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The correct answer \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve told you before \u00e2\u20ac\u201d is \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc\u00c2\u00bfmande usted?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a variation of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153yes sir,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153please repeat,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pardon me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
After all these years I still struggle with whether using \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usted\u00e2\u20ac\u009d generates more courtesy, or whether it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply that courteous people use \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usted.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The courtesy question came to mind as I heard some kids speaking Spanish to an elder at the city recreation center. Though the kids seemed polite and attentive, one of them kept using \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfque?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tu,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d whereas people like my dad would have disapproved. We learned in school and at home, that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tu\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ought to be used only in addressing a friend, someone younger, or a family member. In our home there was no option: My parents allowed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tu\u00e2\u20ac\u009d only among us children. Strange that the plural of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tu\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ustedes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which has its own implied form of courtesy.<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, I wrote about trying to become friendly with a Danish restaurateur, whom I heard speak Spanish and who operated a Mexican buffet in downtown Copenhagen. In my column I wrote that the man obviously resented my attempt to be friendly and responded with the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfque?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that means not merely \u00e2\u20ac\u0153what?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153how dare you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d How had I erred in addressing the man in his native language? Remember, the man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s word came out with considerable volume and speed. It obviously had begun deep down in his throat.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile my e-mail pal Ben Moffett wrote in my Work of Art blog that perhaps the Spanish-speaking caf\u00c3\u00a9 owner, who I thought could have passed for a northern New Mexican, bristled at my attempt at familiarity. Moffett reminded me that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d addressed the owner with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfcomo est\u00c3\u00a1s?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which is like asking a peer, a friend or a social inferior how it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going.<\/p>\n
Sure enough. I checked the column I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d written about the man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taco emporium, and Ben is right: I used \u00e2\u20ac\u0153est\u00c3\u00a1s,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d whereas \u00e2\u20ac\u0153est\u00c3\u00a1\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would have been politer. So, when you ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfcomo est\u00c3\u00a1?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (without the final \u00e2\u20ac\u0153s,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usted\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is implied, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s considered courteous.<\/p>\n
I have no doubt that my father, who left us in 1998, would have agreed that I committed the same kind of transgression that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been guilty of in 1950. Even if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m clearly older than Se\u00c3\u00b1or Restaurateur, I need to show more respect. Then, as we become better acquainted, I can use \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tu.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regrettable that in my experience, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hear many young Las Vegas denizens using Spanish. Along with the diminution of its use, the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tu\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usted\u00e2\u20ac\u009d virtually vanish. I wonder whether the politeness and courtesy factors play any role in that phenomenon.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
Another frequent contributor to this column is Klare Schmidt. I wrote last week about a solecism committed on the cover of Parade magazine, in which a female football coach was identified as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one of the only\u00e2\u20ac\u009d such coaches. How can \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one of\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ever be an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153only\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n
Klare wrote that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153read right past\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the error, but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153my aging brain reversed and I went over the statement again, shook my head and read it again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
She decided to e-mail me about her discovery. Then, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153when finally I settled down to read your latest \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWork of Art\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe my eyes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d beaten her to it.<\/p>\n
Ah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comforting that there are other comma-chasers besides me. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s encouraging that a number of readers have become honorary members of the language brigade. I hope to receive more such feedback.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back-to-school time, and with that come new lessons in spelling. Look at the expensive electronic message board on Mills, next to the RHS football field.<\/p>\n
In anticipation of the start of school, someone apparently has planted a few words to test students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 spelling skills. See if you can decipher the following, which have been on the message board for several days: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Aigust,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Augusr\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153August 31th.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
We assume those in charge of the message board really do know the veridical spelling of the month just passed and that the creative way of spelling it is merely a test \u00e2\u20ac\u201d just to see if the students are paying attention.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
My grandchildren believe Pampah is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153so old that when he was in school, there was no history.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s close, but there are a few people older than I. This weekend, my alma mater, Immaculate Conception School, is holding a reunion in Las Vegas for the classes of 1954, \u00e2\u20ac\u212255 and \u00e2\u20ac\u212256.<\/p>\n
To the alumni of those classes, I was just a kid, although I graduated, laude-how-come, just a year later, in \u00e2\u20ac\u212257.<\/p>\n
Welcome back!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brief primer on one important difference between English and Spanish. Somewhere along the linguistic ladder, people stopped using \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thee\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thou\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in English, whereas the Romance languages, for example Spanish, retained forms like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153usted.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speculate as to whether the use of particular word combinations determines respect, or lack thereof, or is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":649,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648\/revisions\/649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}