The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1910-12-29
VERBAL PlIF ALLS,
Traps That Await English Speak
ing Tourists Ii Portugal.
THERE ARE NO TOES THERE.
But. Thon. One Has Twenty Fingers
10 Make Up the Loss. Fingers Of the
Hand and Fingers 81 the Foot--oddi-
tics Of tho Verb TO Walk"

10 Make Up the Loss. Fingers Of the
Hand and Fingers Of the Foot--oddi-
tics Of tho Verb TO Walk"
The EnglIshman or. American IN
Portugal who thinks III his own lan-
guagc ana ilics 10 speak III the lan-
guage Of the country he is visiting il
grcui smile producer.
For instance. you never marry any
body III Portugal unless strange para
dox you happen TO be priest You
marry with" your beloved Maria. and
the priest nmrrlcs you both. In the
same way you never dream about any
body. bul always with them.
When the lanllady at your boarding
house is ladlng out your soup sou
call out. Arrive" You are telling
her 10 arrive ~ the stopping point III
other words. that you don't want more
than she has put out When You see
child that you want 10 fOndle ut the
other side Of the room y0u<Say TO her.
Arrive here" And the Child prompt
" arrives
In England when we speak Of walk
ing We refer to Il certain use Of the
legs. But the Portuguese verb TO
walk" has many more Specifications
In Portugal nor only Go The people
walk. but Also the cnrts and ears walk,
the trains walk. balloon walks. ana
a boat walks. Stranger still. the
hands Of clock walk round the face!
A clock. by the way. never goes; II
works.
Unless you are very Intimate or very
rude You never say to your fair part
ner at dinner "NVill you have some
brcady' etc. Yen inquire, 'Aylll your
eycellency have some bread?p or "Wlll
the lady have some hreadf" tile lady
lnenning not some other lady. but your
fair partncr herself
In spite " winter you are never cold
In Portugal unless you are Il corpse.
Y0u are with" cold In the same
way you aI'e occasionally with" heat.
with" headache. with" hunger or
with" thirst when yon have occa-
sion to discuss the weather. yon say.
.sIt mikes cold" III .mukcs fog"
etc, On yorr way home from nm en-
tertainmrnt you tell yonr compassion
that it ''nmkes" dark
IL speaking OF her husband wife
says he Is II tame" man She merely
means that be liz Il man OF peace and
justice.
The word "housc" mems more than
with us. Your buttons share your own
privilege OF living in Il house Tho
buttonholes are called houses Of
the buttons" The squares on chess.
honrd are also houses You don't
s;iy. I'm going 10 shave" You say.
I'm going 10 do the beard" Neither
do you shy on the way TO the bar
hers. I'm going 10 get my hair cut."
but you say, I'm going TO cut my
halrr
When you are in Portugal You have
twenty fingers, but no toes II YOU
want to make distinction you
shy fingers ~ the hand or
fingers Of the font" Instead OF
telling the servant TO set the table
you tell her to 'put" It. When you
so to the theater you assist" You
don't mean BY that that Won ''come
on nor even That van do a little Srenc
shifting, You mean that you are there
Residents in flats who mediate talk
Ing holiday in Portugal will be re.
lievcd to hear that no one plays rhe
niano there They merely "touch" II
Neither do they ring bells They
"touch" them also, But they "play"
stones, meaning that they throw
them. and ship nj sen plays" when
It pitches and tosses
ne careful how you tell your land
lady that you intend TO dine ont or
She may think, With Il shrug Of the
shoulders. thar You intend dining
"outside"--i. q. IN the garden In an
swer to the kind Inquiries of your
friends don't say that you are well;
say that ynu are good BE careful
IN yonr use of words. Some words
similar IN form are widely different in
meMning. as an american missionary
once discovered to his cost when
preaching IA Brazil, once Portuguese
colony His subject wus "The Prodi.
gal Son, and he gravely informed his
hearers thai when the young man re
turned home his father Killed for him
the fatted bectle. But he had merely
made a mistake In one solitary vowel.
4 sleeping" bridge means bridge
that Il hnmovable mot drawbridgel
Stagnant water also "sleeps.S SO do
trucks or trains that wait anywhere
during the night When they laugh in
Portugal they unite themselves t.
hugh" and when they cry they sun,
make themselves Ia tears" A persist
entity unfortunate man says, 81 am so
unlucky that II fell on my back
should break my nosei"-London An,
swers.
Hopeful Names.