Category: Mis-translations

I ordered two beers the other day and managed to say, out loud, with confidence: ‘Dos bieros, s’il vous plaît.’ Just me, standing there, trying to be polite in two countries at once. The problem is politeness has its own muscle memory. In Spain, you can get away with a quick “dos cervezas, por favor.”…

I made a terrible mistake last Thursday. Actually, I made six, but the main one involved cheese, a well-meaning compliment, and the Catalan word for “sweaty.” Let’s rewind. After three weeks of only speaking to the builder (who mostly just grunts and occasionally says “mañana” like a death threat), I decided it was time to integrate. Brave the…