LORO VIEJO NO APRENDE... YOU CAN´T TEACH AN OLD DOG...

 

I have long held that the conceit that older people have no memory and no capacity to learn is erroneous and a silly urban legend. The acquisition of new facts occurs daily in our lives. Not a day goes by that we don´t have a new fact to memorize or learn, be it a street name, a new face, a telephone number, or a doctor´s appointment. Language lore has given us the English phrase "you cannot teach an old dog new tricks" which has its equivalent in Spanish as "loro viejo no aprende a hablar." Both expressions are used to prove that the old are just well nigh useless and decrepit. Yet, when in line at a check-out counter in a supermarket I see that the employee is a youngster, my legs start to shake. I foresee problems. And eight times out of ten I am right. 

Be it as it may, both idioms are here to stay and you will hear and read them often: "On the way to the hospital, Holmes kept saying: you can´t teach an old dog new tricks. (Jordan Steffen, Denver Post, 2015.) "Y aunque dicen que loro viejo no aprende a hablar, tuve que enseñarme el oficio de cazador." (Ednodio Quintero, La danza del jaguar, 1991. Venezla.)