The word of the day* for February 28, 2007 is“dragoman” — noun : an interpreter chiefly of Arabic,Turkish, or Persian employed especially in the Near East.
Interpreters amaze me. Having taken Latin in high school and German in college, and having picked up a smattering of Spanish while living in Puerto Rico, I have to say that learning another language well enough to express one self, let alone the thoughts of another approaches the practice of magic.
Lloyd used to watch Un Chavo del Ocho, (a boy of eight) on Univision. (They aren’t airing it in our area at a reasonable time anymore.) The slapstick comedy was so broad that very little knowledge of Spanish was needed to be in on the jokes. I especially enjoyed the recurring romance between El Profesor and Doña Florinda. He would bring her flowers; she would be in curlers, hanging out the clothes. He would always ask if he might have a cup of coffee, if it wouldn’t be a bother. “No me molestari, it doesn’t bother me,” she would say as he dropped his hat or the flowers or both in order to lend her his elbow for the two steps to the door.
The quote† for today is from Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), The Critic. Act i. Sc. 2:
Egad, I think the interpreter is the hardest to be understood of the two!
;^) Jan
* Unless otherwise attributed, the definition is from either Merriam-WebsterOnline, 10th Edition or The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition and is used by permission.
† Unless otherwise attributed, the quote is from either Bartleby: Great Books on Line or The Quotation Pages and is used by permission.
P.S.: Comments and word requests are welcome.
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