That was probably the only decent line in the movie “Cool Hand Luke”, and it epitomizes the way I sometimes feel when speaking English around the world.
For example, when I lived in the West Indies, someone would say to me, “I’m going to pass by your house tonight”. My usual response was, “that’s nice”. Then, to my surprise, that person would not “pass by” my house, but rather drop in for a visit. Eventually I came to understand that “pass by” really meant “drop in”.
A more ubiquitous example of West Indian English versus American English appeared whenever I asked a local to do something for me. Their response was inevitably, “no problem Mon”. I interpreted that to mean that they had agreed to accede to my request—in fact what they meant was that it would be no problem for them because they were going to do exactly what they wanted regardless of my request.
The same thing has happened here, except that it can be an order of magnitude worse because we have to factor in the added variables of translation complicated by English/Spanish cognates.
For example, in the United States, an architect makes the plans for building which is built by someone else—usually a general contractor. Here, in Uruguay, the architect (arquitecto) is both designer and almost always the general contractor.
There is an even wider gap between the American perception of a notary and the Uruguayan perception of the same office. Anybody with a clean police record, and IQ of 85 or above, and the ability to take an online course of a few hours can become a notary in the US.
Here, a notary (escribano) is an important professional who is key to the completion of many essential legal and commercial transactions. A civil law notary is in some ways similar to a British solicitor, in that he deals primarily with paperwork—but he also takes the place of a title insurance company, a stock transfer agent, a car title transfer agent, and probably dozens of other things with which I have not yet been confronted. Having access to a good escribano is probably more important than having a good attorney.
Another word that causes a lot of problems is the Spanish word for “to intend (to do something)”, which is “pretender”—which unfortunately Uruguayos often anglicize into “pretend”, when they really mean “intend”.
This reminds me of some differences between British and American English. In the US when you “table” a subject, you defer its consideration—in the UK, you do just the opposite; bring it up for immediate consideration.
To make things really interesting here, most of the Uruguayos who speak English have been taught British English, so you can really have some funny conversations without trying too hard.
Fortunately, almost everyone here is good natured and not quick to take offense—that proves we are neither in France nor Argentina…
[…] Posted on September 20th, 2007. Uruguay Living just posted an article called, What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate. I thought, “Oh yeah, I bet some of our readers don’t know this?” […]
Left by Random Notes, Real Estate and Construction « Coastal Uruguay on September 20th, 2007
I enjoy this blog very much, but you clearly do not have an adequate appreciation for “Cool Hand Luke.” There are a lot of wonderful quotes from the movie!!
You can use this one next time it is a slow newsday, and you feel like you must post something: “Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand.”
Keep up the good work, and thank you.
Left by vsense on September 23rd, 2007
I enjoy this blog very much, but you need watch “Cool Hand Luke” a few more times . The movie is loaded with great quotes, including this one, which might apply to days when you would like to post something but don’t have much to say : “Sometimes nothing is a real cool hand.” Keep up the good work.
Left by vsense on September 23rd, 2007