Lesson gem/Leccion Joya "Embarrassed"...."Embarazada"....?

Hola Amigos:

Don't you just love it when someone tells you (usually a language instructor) how much you already know of the particular language you are trying so desperately  to learn?.......So here is me:

"Really? I was not aware that I already  knew  Korean?.......or "I guess I always knew that I knew some sign language?"......."Like this one?".........ooooooooooh come now have a little fun............


Okay so back to this "very serious topic"...........Perhaps "recognizing the fact that you may already know some Spanish;  is probably the most "crucial" component of this exercise. So without further ado here are some ejemplos/examples:


A) pronto (prohn-toh)= rigth away/soon
B) conclusión (kohn-clue-see-ohne)=yup you guessed it"conclusion"
C) invención (in-vehn-see-ohne)= yup "invention"


And so on............

However.......You knew there would be a "however" here somehwere........The trouble  begins in the "World of Words" (no not the "War of the Worlds" from  Steven Spielberg with  Tom Cruise, they  had nothing to do with this one)...........Here goes that story:


Courtesy of Wikipedia..........
False friends (or faux amis, French for "false friends") are pairs of words in two languages or dialects (or letters in two alphabets) that look or sound similar, but (big but here) differ in meaning. .


Here are my Ejemplos/Examples:


A) Actual= same spelling in English NOT same meaning in Spanish


In Spanish=  "actual" means current, this day, this moment......You get the idea.......So when you say in English: "The actual name given to that State was......... in Spanish you are saying: "The name given today or up this date is".........

B) My personal "favorita"/favorite is: embarazada (to be with child)........Oh yeah this is a fun one! So here goes this story...........

As you may or may not know "embarrassed" in English means NOT pregnant but ashamed or encumbered.......

Now in Spanish the problem begins with the fact that "embarazada" is the adjective that comes from the same root as the English word but (a big but here) nowadays or "actualmente"  (this vocabulary word evolved a bit over time) it is exclusively used to mean "with child", pregnant, "preggos", "bun in the oven" and so on...........

My mama refers to this stage in life of pregnancy  as: "the walking incubator"..... isn't that romantic?.......Ahhhhhhhh.........

More later........


An anecdote: 

I knew this lady from Perú who was here in the US for sometime while she learned English. One say she came home from church telling how nice EVERYONE at the church was. How all of them shook her hand and welcomed her to the church.......I thought: "Wow I know no one at that church and I have been living around here since grade school". The next Sunday came and went and again my Latina pal  came telling me how delightful everyone had been and not just to her but with one another......"Hmmmh?" I thought to myself.

The following Sunday I decided to go with my Peruvian friend to this "wonderful new" church.......

Well we got to the church and everything seemed as normal as one would expect at a church........We sat down listened, stood up, sat down , you get the idea........ Then my friend looks at me and says: "Okay here it comes" she says, "This is the time when we all greet one another"...........

Then  it began: "Pleased to meet you", as my friend shook everyone hands who she could reach and then some.........

As we left the church I burst out laughing. My friend asked why I was laughing so crazily after church; my whole body went into convulsions. "Well", I said trying to be serious, "These folks are not telling you "nice to meet you". To which my friend replied in her Latina accent: "No?'.........I replied: "No", and tried to continue  with a straight face.

"What these folks  are actually telling you is: "Peace be with you!", "Not", I continue, "Pleased to meet you"............Then we both burst out laughing ........

Ahhhhhhhh that was a fun day!