Friday, July 16, 2010

Spanish 101



We were finally headed home, after two long days exploring the great city they call New York. We weren't the only ones who wanted to get onto the George Washington bridge and so we found ourselves stuck in a bit of bumper to bumper traffic.

A delivery type van came near us on the right. As it slowly inched past us I saw writing on both doors. It was in Spanish. Since my son has studied this language for two years now I thought I'd throw a question his way.

The words printed just under the front and side windows said, "Cierra la puerta suave" From my many years of high school Spanish class, where I always sat next to the door and was told every day by my teacher, "Cierra la puerta, por favor." I knew that the first part of the phrase meant 'close the door'.

I shared this with my family, and asked, "....so what do you suppose 'suave' means?"

Without missing a beat my husband suggested, 'maybe it means DANG IT?"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It means gently.