What a delicious cat!
Years ago when I was in college, I was studying first year Spanish after studying French. I was in the International Club and was invited over to the house of a graduate student and his wife from Chile.We finished eating a wonderful meal and the wife brought out a wonderful cake. After eating it I said ¡El gato es delicioso!The little boy and parents looked at me strangely. Then I pointed and said it again.The husband told me I had said 'The cat is delicious.'I explained to him that in French le gâteau is 'cake' and I thought it was the same in Spanish. Oops!
Editor's note: In Spain, a small individual cake is un pastel, a bigger celebration cake is una tarta.
Sent by: Marylin
Comments
Thanks, Kathy, for reminding me of a word I haven't heard in awhile, bizcocho.
Oh, I completely relate to this! I once told my Spanish teacher about how there were 15 velas en mi gato - "15 candles on my cat"!!!!
If this was the kind of cake we know as le gâteau in French then in Spanish it could be la tarta as well.
La torta in some latin countries, especialy in Mexico, means a large sandwich.
I started studying French after studying Spanish. A sentence in the text read le gâteau est delicieux! and at first I was horrified, thinking that gâteau meant 'cat'.
Something very similar happened to me in Puerto Rico!
I was invited to lunch to meet the family of my boyfriend, up in the mountains of Naranjito. The women of the house had prepared a delicious meal that included goat, fried plaintains and rice. Every one of us was digging in heartily -- brothers, sisters, young cousins, aunts and uncles, and my boyfriend's beautiful, dignified "abuelita" ("grandmother"), 80 years old, who sat at the head of the table.
Now, in Spanish - at least in the Spanish of the Caribbean - "goat on the plate" is "cabrito".
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