Tuesday, June 12, 2007

What's in a name?

Spanish terms or names I find amusing or interesting:

  • Taberna de Colon: this is the name of a pub just up the street from me
  • Pan de molde: sliced bread
  • Epi & Blas: Bert & Ernie
  • La rana Gustavo: Kermit the frog (en España)
  • La rana René: Kermit the frog (en Hispanoamerica)
  • Los pitufos: The Smurfs
  • Bob esponja: Spongebob Squarepants
  • mandar un emilio: to send an e-mail (slang)
  • nombre de starbucks: the name that a foreign student whose name is difficult or impossible for Spaniards to pronounce even approximately correctly will give to the barista at Starbucks when asked. Most students from Asia and India will settle on one within a week of arriving in Spain, and it is (apparently) not considered rude for the teachers at school to ask "¿cual es tu nombre de starbucks?" of a new student if they are having difficulty with that student's name.
The nombre de starbucks, in particular, amuses me no end. If for no other reason than because it raises the following question:

Q: ¿Cual es el nombre de starbucks de "starbucks"?
A: ¡ Estarbucks !

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent!