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Lost in Translation Seventeen

September 26, 2007
08:53 AM

A friend who lives in that part of suburban London known as the Costa del Sol tells me that the English man abroad likes to display his proficiency in Spanglish by chucking babies under the chin and saying “Lovely Bambino” to the bewilderment of the Spanish parent. The Spanish word for a child is niño (or niña,) the word bambino is of course Italian.
Mind you the Spanish should be getting used to foriegners inventing their language for them.
When Bizet was writing his Spanish opera, Carmen he found it difficult to fit the word Matador into the march he had written which was central to the opera.
You all know it; Tum tumty tum, tum tumty tumty tum.
The trouble was that Matador was one syllable short. Nothing daunted Bizet invented the portmanteau word Toreador which fits the tune beautifully.
The trouble was that the word stuck and Matadors, to their anger, are still called Toreadors to this day.

A Spanish baby reacts in confusion to being addressed as bambino.

A Matador reacts to being called a Toreador.

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