LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

El idioma se adapta a los vaivenes y actitudes de la sociedad, como bien sabemos. Un hijo nacido fuera del matrimonio era antaño objeto de ostracismo y vituperación social. Hoy, que una mujer tenga un hijo sin estar casada ya no la relega al aislamiento social de otros tiempos. La lengua inglesa tiene —o tenía— una expresión chusca para describir esta circunstancia: Born on the wrong side of the blanket Hijo de madre soltera; ilegítimo; de padre desconocido. Mary married this guy, born on the wrong side of the blanket. Mary se casó con ese tipo, hijo de madre soltera. --“I was born on the wrong side of the blanket.” Anya Seton, Winthrop Woman (1958). --“… those royal romances which always seemed to involve births on the wrong side of the blanket.” Time Magazine (21 de febrero de 1969). Según una explicación popular, los hijos concebidos dentro del matrimonio lo eran "debajo de la manta", mientras que los nacidos de relaciones extramatrimoniales se concebían "al otro ...

Dr. Pedro Álvarez de Miranda (Royal Spanish Academy, RAE) has been kind enough to forward a very interesting article of his, "Dos efemérides", published recently in El Cultural (18 June 2026). He discusses the magnificent Diccionario de autoridades (1726–1739), which predates Dr. Samuel Johnson's dictionary by sixteen years. The article is well worth reading, both for its intrinsic interest and for the light it sheds on the importance of the Diccionario de autoridades in the history of European lexicography. In his Chasing the Sun: Dictionary Makers and the Dictionaries They Made (1996), Jonathon Green made little mention of these early Spanish contributions, including the Diccionario de autoridades , which marked a cusp in the history of dictionary making. Dr. Álvarez de Miranda writes with considerable scholarly authority and gravitas, and succeeds in whetting the reader's appetite for language and its history. 

 Of late, Spanish politics has been topsy-turvy, with socialist politicians jailed, indicted, prosecuted, or accused of corruption and graft. The English adjective offshore is on everyone's lips, in the digital press, on radio programs, and in talk shows of all kinds. Commentators and know-alls use it in Spanish as a noun: "El político corrupto tiene un offshore en Singapur." The pronunciation varies from ofsor to obsor . They are referring to companies or individuals with operations, accounts, or assets in tax-haven jurisdictions. The expression has become remarkably popular, and one now hears it in everyday conversation. I would be interested in tracing its trajectory as a linguistic stowaway. Time, and perhaps the law, will determine whether it becomes established currency in Spanish or is eventually consigned to oblivion.

Wit es una palabra inglesa polifacética que igual sirve para un roto que para un descosido y que acumula gran cantidad de fraseología. Si la traducimos por "ingenio" a secas, como hace el Collins, le haremos un flaco favor. Por eso de las prisas y falta de tiempo -aunque tengo 24 horas al día como todo hijo de vecino- quiero referirme al aspecto negativo de la palabra.  Un dullwit es un torpe, retrasado, lento de entendederas, cretino, sonso, bobo, lentorro... No acaba ahí la cosa porque también puede ser un halfwit , persona de pocas luces que también puede definirse como slowwitted o dimwit. Aún podemos añadir, con el mismo significado dumbwit. Nitwit quizá sea la más hiriente, al referirse a la inteligencia de las liendres. Y todo con wit . En fin, que la lengua inglesa sabe sacar provecho de una palabra para ofender al prójimo. Y tiene muchas más, claro, en referencia a la supuesta deficiencia intelectual de los demás.  

 I am trying to put together a chapter on Doris Lessing (1919-2013) for my Literatura en lengua inglesa III (Editatum, 2023, 2025, and 2026). What first surprises me is the linguistic side to her biography. Born in Persia (now Iran), where she lived till age 6, she then moved to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she lived till age 30, when she settled in London in 1949. J. M. Coetzee reviews her autobiography in his book Stranger Shores , but does not dwell on linguistic questions. What I find surprising is that she spoke only English. There is little evidence that she ever acquired either Farsi or Shona beyond a few words and expressions. True that the British recreated abroad, in the colonies, their home way of life and shunned local languages and ways of life, but the fact that Lessing, as a child and adolescent, did not even try to learn the local languages shocks me. After all, her English was acquired outside the United Kingdom, in exotic countries. What intrigues me is no...

 I am unable to read a book, novel, essay, or biography without a highlighter or pencil at hand. When using my iPad or Kindle, I have it even easier, as these devices come with several useful features, including built-in dictionaries. The point is that I regard reading as a form of learning: words, idioms, turns of phrase, and ideas. When a book is worth rereading, I highlight the important passages and keep them ready to refresh my memory whenever I return to it. I also often transfer notes to my phone or to a notebook. I grant that this may seem a bit cumbersome, but I find it helpful, since learning is my ultimate aim. I admit that I am a bit weird, but I am much too old to change. And as The Anglican Book of Common Prayer tells us: "Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest."