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Thursday, January 9, 2014

The Sound of Word Music



Living in Honduras, you learn that words have different rings to them, going from one language to another. When I buy sliced meat, I think of a favorite Gary Larson cartoon: see below .

There's a restaurant just opened down the street called in English, Full Chicken. No ring. Whatsoever. In Spanish, however, it's pronounced pollo lleno (or PO-yo YAY-no), which has a lovely ring.

This happens a lot, where a store throws in a word or two of English, and it's hard to tell what's meant or how they pronounce it.

The store down the street has an interesting history. They opened a year or two ago and started selling fruits. Around election time, a cop talked to the owner. I'm guessing about a license or something. The owner looked peeved. So he closed, which I thought a shame as he filled a niche. I was afraid he was out of business for good, but he's rebuilt and re-opened as a restaurant, with fruits and veggies. So yay for small business.

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