The Columbus journal., 1911-01-04
VERBAL. PITFALLS!
Traps That Await English Speak.
ing Tourists In Portugal.
THERE ARE NO TOES There.

But, Then, One Has Twenty Fingers
to Make Up the Loss, Fingers Of the
Hand and Fingers Of the Feot-oddi' :.
q. :
ties of the Verb ito Walk"
The Englishman or American in =
Portugal who thinks in his own Ian
guage and tries to speak in the Ian
suage Of the-country he is visiting is
4 great smile producer. -
For. instance, you. never marry any
body in. Portugal unless-strange para
dox-you happen TO he priest You
marry with" Your beloved Maria. anu
tie priest marries you both. In the
same way you never dream about any
body, but always with" them.
When the hndlady ut your boarding
house is ladlins out your soup you
call out, Arrive" You are telling
her to arrive ut the stopping point-ln
other words, that you don't want more
than she has put out. When: you see
q child that you want to fondie- at the
other side Of the room you say to her.
ARRIVE here" And the child prompts
" arrives" -,
In England when we speak OF walk
Ing we refer to a certain use OF the
legs. But the Portuguese verb ITO
walk" has many more Specifications.
In Portugal not only do the people
walk, but also the carts and cars walk.
the trains walk. q balloon walks. and
q boat walks. Stranger still. the
hands of a clock walk round the face.
A clock, by the way. never goes: 1t
works"
Unless you are very intimate or very
rude you never say to your fair part
ner at dinner. "Will you have some
bread?' etc. You inquire, viii your.
excellency haye some bread: or. VIII
the lady have some bread:" the lady"
meaning NOT some other lady. but your
fair partner herself. -: :.
In spite of winter you are never cold
in Portugal unless you are Il corpse.
You are with" cold. In the SAME
cay you are occasionally with heat
with" headache. with hunger or
with" thirst. When you have occa-
sion to discuss the weather you say,
1T makes cold" ut makes fog,
etc. On your way home from an en-:
tertainment you tell your companion
THAT it. makes" dark
If speaking of her husband a wife
saws he is tame" man. She merely
means that he is man Of peace and
justice.
The word house means more than
with us. Your buttons share your own
privilege of living in house. The
tmttonholes are called 'houses OF
the buttons" The squares on chess
board are also houses" You don't
say, I'm going to shave" You say.
Pm going to do the beard" Neither
do you say on the way to the bar
ber's, I'm going to get my hair cut"
but you say. I'm going to cut my
hair"
When you are in Portugal you have
twenty fingers, but no toes. II you
want to make distinction you
say fingers Of the hand or
fingers of the foot" Instead OF
telling the servant to set the table
YOU tell her to put" il. When You
20 to the theater You "assist" You
don't mean by that that you "come
on" nor even that you do little scene
shifting. You mean that You are there
Residents in fats who mediate TAX
ing a holiday in Portugal will be re-
lieved to hear that no one plays the
piano there. They merely touch it
Neither do they ring bells. They
touch" them also. But they play
stones. meaning that they throw
them, and 4 ship at sea plays wheI
It pitches and losses.
Re careful how you tell, your land
lady that you intend TO dine out OF
she may think. with shrug Of the
shoulders, that You intend dining
"outside"-i e.. in the garden. In an
swer: to the kind Inquiries OF your
friends don't say that you are WE'LL
say that you are good" BE careful
in your use Of words. Some wotis
similar in form are widely different in
meaning. as an American missionary
once discovered. TO his cost. when
:, preaching in RrazA; once q rgortvSuest
-: colony, His subject was. 'sEha PrsH
gai Son." and he gravels Informed CHS
hearers that when the yahig man re
turned home his father kflIed for bin
the fatted beetle! But he had perel!
made a mistake in one solitary ySlyei.
4 sleeping" bridge means = Akidgt
that is immovable mot drawbfidsel
StaSnant water also Sleeps. So dt
trucks or trains that wait anywhere
during the night. When they laugh il
Portugal they unite themselves t.
laugh" and when they cry they "un
make themselves in tears" \ persist
-eptiy.unfortunate man says. ~ am 81
unlucky that if 1 fell on my back
should break my nose"-London An
SwerS. Co. ,a-..,-,.
Not q Chance!
A man told another man. q few days
ago how heshad been b6ttening -hs
wife's dress for five years and finally