BULLS AND GUNS

Because of my background, Spaniards I know -friends, acquaintances, relatives- hold me responsible for whatever might be going on in the US and want me to offer explanations on the whys and wherefores of certain ills the country has. I try to explain and offer plausible answers often on historical principles. The question of guns and shootings comes up often, mainly because random shootings, and killings, seem to be the order of the day in the country of the free. Why are guns sold as a matter of fact over the counter? Why are there no laws to ban such sales? At this stage of the game and after so many years the short answer is that being realistic, there is nothing to be done about this matter. GUNS in the United States are there to stay. And two good reasons come to my mind: the average American has a fixation with guns and the arms industry moves a lot of dollars and creates much employment. Big business. Excuses other than the second amendment abound, and the one I find most curious is that firearms don´t kill, people, kill. And so, many innocent people are killed every year in a country that is very permissive with arms control, or, better, the lack of it.

 We tend to see the mote in our friend´s eye and not the beam in our eye, and I tell my local friends that there is also a fixation in Spain (and in Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico…) on BULLS. Humane associations fight hard to outlaw “corridas” to no avail. BULLS in this country, also called “fiesta nacional”, are everywhere, in cities, towns, villages, and hamlets. Local festivities always have BULLS, to punish and make suffer. Bulls gored and killed over 15 people this past summer, and every year in Pamplona, in July, youngsters (many are foreigners) end up in hospitals or the Morgue. Nothing is done about it, nothing can truly and realistically be done, as in the case of GUNS in the States. Bullfighting is a fixation with Spaniards, with a huge industry behind it that generates employment to thousands, and millions of euros in revenue and taxes. Big business.

 Just as Americans say that GUNS don´t kill, Spaniards fond of, and partial to, “corridas” and BULLS will tell you that the animal does not suffer and that the confrontation between “toreros” and the animal is fair and even. Besides, they aver, these BULLS have been specially bred for the “fiesta” and lead a good life before entering the arena.

 There are two sides to every coin, of course, but the harsh reality is that in neither case will matters change. Too much is at play. And this business- big business- of guns and bulls will keep on going and no one will ever be able to stop it, sad as this reflection might be. 

PRIME MINISTERS

Some years ago, when I was running a language school, one of the teachers loved to debate with me about historical British-Hispanic relationships. I felt ill at ease because she was English but her face looked oriental, in fact, her parents were Chinese. I could not accuse her of her people having taken Gibraltar away from Spain because her people then were in China, trying to fight the British off. Why am I dwelling on this? Well, I know that the  UK´s Prime Minister, Mr. Rishi Sunak, is of Indian background, although born in London. And this morning I discovered that the new Scottish First Minister, Mr. Humsa Yousaf, is of Pakistani extraction. Fancy that. I applaud and am in favor of both democratic appointments, of course, which show how far the UK has gone from the days of A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster, a hundred years ago. Bravo!    

KILLINGS IN NASHVILLE

Few can doubt my partiality to the US, and  I yield to no one in my love for the country. I am sold on the US and  the US I used to know, the US I grew up in and was educated at. Hearing about the recent news about the killings of children in Nashville, I shake my head and think that something is wrong, deeply wrong about the New US., the New United States of America, the former land of the free and the home of the brave. It is an isolated case, but there are too many "isolated cases" for our own good. Is it the educational system? Is it society? Have the values of old gone to pot? Of course, I do not know, but I know that I am deeply chagrined and sad. Europeans look in perplexity and wonder. And Spaniards ask me, heavens, why, and I do not know what to say. 

ENDING SENTENCES WITH PREPOSITIONS AND THE MLA

I was under the impression that the issue of whether it was correct to finish a sentence with a preposition had been settled long ago. I was wrong. Susan Doose, an acute associate editor at MLA, in her "To Dangle or not to Dangle: on Ending a Sentence with a Preposition." (The Source, Updates from the MLA Style Center, 22 March 2023.) She unmercifully flogs a dead horse, reviving and insufflating life into a dead issue. She quotes -oh, how many times has it been quoted- the quip, attributed to Winston Churchill: "That is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I shall not put." I can throw another quotation at Dr. Doose, also attributed to the Prime Minister: "A preposition is a bad word to end a sentence with." The poor dangling preposition has been flogged plenty already, and I think it should be lain to rest. I quote John McWhorter: "Yes. You can end a sentence in a preposition." End of debate. In the meantime, and in my opinion, Ms. Doose should be careful with the use of clichés: "crystal clear, time and again, fall prey to" which sully her otherwise scintillating prose.  

THE END DRAWS NIGH

This morning, at 8 o´clock, I was aroused from my slumbers by the front doorbell. It was the Fuller Brush man. He knows I am a client but not today because I am traveling to Philly, to visit the Spanish Consulate.  

After packing a few personal items -I like to travel light- I set off to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Soon I could see a barn embellished with a Chew Mailpouch Tobacco, treat yourself to the best sign. I have never chewed tobacco but this sign has remained in my memory all these years, proving that if you repeat something, it sticks. Farther on I read a short message on another barn: Burma Shave, preceded by its rhyming verses in several other barns. Tired, I stop at a Howard Johnson´s restaurant for a cup of coffee and to stretch my legs. Before reaching Philadelphia I stop at a Chevron gas station to refill. Finally, I enter the city of brotherly love. End of my journey! 

Recalling all those names makes me feel that the end is drawing nigh.

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE ON READING AND PHILOLOGY

 

“For philology is that venerable art which exacts from its followers one thing above all, to leave themselves spare moments, to grow silent, to become slow — the leisurely art of the goldsmith applied to language: an art which must carry out slow, fine work, and attains nothing if not lento.… it teaches how to read well, i.e. slowly, profoundly, attentively, prudently, with inner thoughts, with the mental doors ajar, … " (Dawn, 1881.)

LA B INGLESA

 

Segunda letra del alfabeto inglés. El plural de esta letra, como las otras, se puede escribir b’s, o bs: Abbreviation is spelt with two bs.

Una nota de B en un examen equivale a un notable. También puede ser B+ o B- (B plus, B minus)… Esto es lo que se llama hilar fino, to slice thin.

La /b/ es muda en palabras como doubt, debt, dumb, comb, climb. 

HOW MY BRAIN WORKS

 

My brain is normal, like everybody else´s, with a touch of oligophrenia, I am sure of it. I have, thus, the same drawbacks others have, and I hold that my issues are the same issues other brains have. I have a problem with attention and when I am working on some issue my brain takes side trips and explores other questions that concern me. In my college days, class periods were 50 minutes long, supposedly giving us time to run to other classes and buildings. But I learnt that the real reason was that it was supposed then that the attention span of the average student was limited to 50 minutes. Now it seems that the attention span of students is much shorter than that. In my opinion, it is about 10 minutes. After ten minutes, the mind goes away and takes astral trips, like Lobsang Rampa. But the brain can train itself and its plasticity can be used to our advantage. In fact, I have trained my brain to stop itself when it wanders. I have trained it to stop any language to interfere with the one I am using. I have trained it not to mope on rainy days. I have trained my brain to be at my command, always. You may say that these are silly claims. Remember that Steven Pinker opens his How the Mind Works saying: "We don´t know how the mind works." 

DO YOU WANT TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER?

Self-proclaimed language teachers on the internet give students advice on how to speak like a "native", in both English and Spanish. Let me give you a few examples in Spanish.

We are told:

Don´t say: "Ayer bailamos", say instead: "Ayer bailemos" like natives.

Don´t say: "Se me ha roto el fémur", say instead: "Me se ha roto el fémur" like natives.

Don´t say: "Somos europeos", say instead: "Semos europeos".

Don´t say: "Detrás de mí", say instead: "Detrás mío".

Don´t say: "Señora López", say "Señá López."

Don´t say: "¿Sabe usted?, say "¿Sausté?"

Don´t say: "No creo que haya nadie", say "No creo que ahiga naide.".

Don´t say: " Para nada", say "paná". 

And they assure the student that by speaking like that they will pass off as native speakers. 

 

  

AMERICANOS

 

Siempre me ha sorprendido la cara dura de los norteamericanos por apropiarse el término "American" para referirse a los habitantes de los Estados Unidos de América del Norte. Para un ciudadano de los Estados Unidos, America se refiere siempre a United States of America. No es científicamente correcto, pero así es. Luego han surgido nuevos vocablos como African-Americans o Afro-Americans, Asian-Americans, Italo-Americans, por ejemplo. Hay diccionarios que llevan por título: A Dictionary of the American Language. Se habla de American Embassy, American way of life y siempre se refiere a los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica. H. L. Mencken decía que “there’s an English language and an American language.” ¿Lo decía en serio? El resto de los americanos del norte, centro y sur américa no han dicho ni pío. Es como si los españoles se apropiasen de "europeo". Los europeos serían los españoles y el resto franceses, alemanes, portugueses, etc. El continente seguiría siendo Europa. Una sinrazón. Yo creo que un mexicano y un chileno son americanos. 

          El native American es el indio, el piel roja. Es de risa.

    

YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND A SECOND ONE

Perhaps you have noticed that I tend to stress the need to care for one´s native tongue. You may exclaim that it is silly because, after all, you are a native speaker of, say, English and have been speaking it since birth. That settles it! But, no, that does not settle anything. I cannot tell you how often in my classes I have been asked to translate a word into the speaker's language only to meet perplexity on the part of the student because she did not know that word in Spanish or English, in her own tongue. If we do not study our own language, we will never be able to acquire a second one well. This may seem puzzling but in my experience it is true. Never overestimate the level of knowledge of your own language and be humble. You will never go broke underestimating the span of your vocabulary, grammar, and even syntax in your native tongue. You have nothing to lose improving it while mastering a second one. Thank you for your attention.  

WHY WE SHOULD READ OUT LOUD

 In my earlier post, I urged you to read out loud, both the language you are endeavoring to master and your own. But as these posts must be short, I failed to explain why we should read out loud. 

Language is sound, sound with meaning. The sounds of a language are made by means of vocal cords, lips, tongue, alveolar ridges, teeth, and nose. All must be trained to be in an exact position to make a certain sound. The position of the tongue when we produce a /t/ in English is not the position of the tongue in Spanish when we make the /t/ sound. (Cf. Tiempo and time.) And this is why I believe that we must train ourselves in producing sounds in context by reading out loud, not shouting, but in a whisper, lest those around you think you are losing your marbles. 

No need to say that I presume you have been trained in phonetics. Of course.  

MY DAILY LINGUISTIC ROUTINE

 

I am a firm believer in routines. Routines become habits and, as we all know, habits die hard. Also, routines give us a sense of security, and a sense of purpose, which may strengthen our way to the goals we have set up for ourselves. You will allow me to let you into my linguistic daily routines.

Every day and I mean 7/7, and for fifteen minutes, I read aloud, slowly, trying to savor the sounds, and excerpts from a novel I am studying, which at present are:

Spanish: Irene Vallejo, El infinito en un junco.

English: Irving D. Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept.

French: Guy de Maupassant, Le Horla.

Valenciano: Vicent Marqués: Nit de foc.

I read, again, out loud underlining or highlighting expressions, new words, or ideas. It takes an hour a day which, out of 24, is a meager amount of time.

I have other routines, of course, like exercising, blogging, and researching and writing.   

STEVEN PINKER ON WRITING

 “The primary – indeed the first – and most abiding precept for all writing is clarity, to be clear, understood and intelligible.” Steven Pinker.

Something needs to be fixed when we have to go back and reread a sentence because it is unclear to us. The writer should do his job well so as not to force the reader to go back, again and again, to understand what he has written. I think that is bad manners on the part of the author.  

STEPHEN KING ON WRITING

 Stephen King tells us: "This is a short book because most books on writing are filled with bullshit... the shorter the book, the less bullshit."

To hold the readers' attention, we must cut out the bullshit, as King advises, no matter how much we like to write and enjoy its process. Clear thinking results in clear writing. And if you enjoy writing bullshit, keep a diary and scribble away at your heart´s content!

SOME ENGLISH HOMOPHONES

Debemos estar atentos a los vocablos que tienen el mismo sonido, pero diferente ortografía, para que no se nos vaya el santo al cielo. Unos ejemplos:

ATE, comí                             EIGHT, ocho

DEAR, querido                      DEER, ciervo

FARE, tarifa                          FAIR, justo, rubio

FLEE, huir                             FLEA, pulga

FOUR, cuatro                        FOR, para

GREAT, grande                     GRATE, chirriar                               

HERE, aquí                            HEAR, oír

IT’S, ello es                            ITS, su, de ello

LOOSE, suelto                       LOSE, perder

MAIN, principal                    MANE, melena

MALE, varón                         MAIL, correo

MEET, encontrarse                MEAT, carne

REIGN, reino                         RAIN, lluvia

SAIL, vela                              SALE, rebajas

SIGHT, vista                          SITE, sitio

SO, así                                    SEW, coser

SON, hijo                               SUN, sol

STRAIGHT, recto                 STRAIT, estrecho                             

THERE, allí                           THEIR, su de ellos

WEATHER, tiempo              WHETHER, si

WERE, pasado to be              WHERE, dónde

WHOSE, cuyo, de quién       WHO’S, quien es

WRITE, escribir                    RIGHT, correcto

YOU’RE, tú eres                    YOUR, tu

PALABRAS SUPERFLUAS EN INGLÉS

 Absolutely necessary – “Do it. It is necessary.”

Advance reservations – “You must make reservations to attend the meeting.”

And etc. – “She is young, pretty, intelligent, etc.”

Basic necessities, needs – “This money will cover my needs.”

Brief summary – “I wrote a summary of the novel.”

Brief moment – “We met for a moment.”

Closed fist – “He hit me with his fist.”

Circle around – “We circled the block.”

Collaborate together – “We collaborated in the project.”

Descend down – “She descended the stairs slowly.”

First of all – “First you must clean the house.”

Foreign imports – “Our imports come from ten countries.”

General public – “The public will understand.”

Drop down – “She dropped a threat.”

Each and every – “I want to thank each of you.”

BEWARE OF THE NATIVE SPEAKER

The man on the street who wishes to learn a language credits the native speaker with perfect knowledge of her language and whatever she says goes and is accepted as Gospel truth. I have been preaching the opposite for years: the native speaker is unreliable and mostly ignorant of his own language unless he is specially qualified in this field. As an example let me tell you of Spanish Minister and Vice President Yolanda Díaz, who, criticizing Ferrovial, the powerful construction company, said about it: "... ha crecido al albur de enormes contratos de la administración pública." This politician, a native Spanish speaker, does not know the meaning of the word "albur" and mistakes it for "amparo." Of course, she is intellectually lacking in linguistic abilities and in many other things, as we all know, but she is a native speaker, I repeat, and outsiders might take her word as Gospel truth. Take the language spoken by a Spanish speaker with a grain of salt, always, and double-check, please, do yourself that favor.    

RESILIENCE AND "RESILIENCIA"

 

Resilience comes from the Latin "resiliens" and it  is "the act of rebounding or springing back" (elasticity, the power of returning to original shape), also "the ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy." In 2022 The Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE) admitted the word from the English, defining it as "Capacidad de adaptación de un ser vivo frente a un agent perturbador o un estado o situación adversos." 

This is a case where Spanish adopts a new word from Latin through English. It still has no widespread use in Spanish, although Ramón Tamames, the economist, employed it in 1992 in his book Curso de economía. The average Spanish speaker ignores the term which is of general use among speakers of English. 

PROCRASTINAR - PROCRASTINATE

I hold Olympic Medals in Procrastination, so much so that I even procrastinate procrastination. I get a kick out of putting tasks off and the Spanish side of my culture and education enjoys this attitude, even though the other side chides me about it all the time. Of late I have discovered that the word "procrastinar", from the Latin procrastinare, is gaining relevance due to the influence of the English "to procrastinate." Few Spaniards know the word and it does not appear in the word bank CORDE (RAE). My Diccionario de uso del español de América y España does not list it. María Moliner does, defining it as "aplazar." CREA, the RAE word bank gives us only one example of usage: "... la falta de perseverancia y el hábito nocivo de procrastinar son indicios claros de..." (Miguel Ángel Ruiz, Sugerencias para aprender a exponer en público, 2003, Perú.) In this case, English is helping revive a Spanish word nobody in Spain seems to know or admit exists. Perhaps Spaniards will someday admit that procrastination is the name of the game in Spain (Cf. Larra and his "vuelva usted mañana.")

EXTENT

 

To a certain (large) extent Hasta cierto punto, en gran medida

To a certain extent you are right Hasta cierto punto tiene usted razón

To a lesser extent En menor grado

Coal is used now to a lesser extent El carbón se emplea ahora en menor grado

— “… vast resources of natural gas and, to a lesser extent, oil.” The China and Eurasia Forum Quaterly, Vol., 6.

To some extent Hasta (cierto) punto

To some extent, I´m a happy man Hasta cierto punto soy un hombre feliz

— “To a certain extent they succeeded.” Chemistry in Britain London, BNC, 1992. UK.

To the extent of Hasta el punto de

He went to the extent of consulting the teacher Fue hasta el punto de consultarle al profesor

To the full extent (sense) of the word En todo el sentido (extensión) de la palabra

John is a gentleman to the full extent of the word Juan es un caballero en todo el sentido de la palabra

— “He has to be a living, breathing experience to the fullest extent of the word.” Meryenne Lynch, Knowing the Terror of the Lord, 2009. US. 

WRITERS I HAVE NOT READ

Students have asked me several times to draw up a list for them of Authors I deem relevant and worth reading.  I never completed any such list because I thought it would be biased and probably misleading. Plenty of reading lists mention essential, must-read writers and titles where the whims of the composers show their predilections which are often misguided and misleading in my opinion. In my slumbers last night I thought it would be a better idea to mention the authors I have not read. For example, Chesterton, S.C. Lewis, Follet, Saramago, Coelho, Vargas Llosa, Dante, Günther Grass, Boris Pasternak, Mao-Tse Tung, Agatha Christie, García Márquez, Karl Marx, Tagore, Nostradamus, Pérez Reverte... come to mind, off the cuff. There is a spate of more writers I have not read or even heard of. There are 5 Nobel Prize winners in this short roll... Why haven´t I read them? Why didn´t I read Dr. Zhivago when the whole world and his mother were reading the novel in the States in my youth? More than half of Europe read Mao´s Red Book. I didn´t. My mother had all of Christie´s books and read them eagerly. Why didn't I read one? Search me.