The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1911-04-07
VERBAL PITFALLS.
Trans 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 Foot.-Oddi.
ties Of tho Verb ito Walk"
The Enelishman OF American In
Portugal who thinks 10 Ills own lao.
gu4g1 unu tsies to speak In the Ion.
guase of the country he is visiting is
great smile producer. ....
Fer instance. you never marry any.
body In Portugal understandings para.
dox-y0u happen to be Il priest You
marry with" your beloved Maria. and
the pri; st nlarries you both. In the
body. but always with them.
When the landlady at your boarding
house IL ladling out your Aoup you
call out. Arrive" You are telling
her to arrive at the stopping point-in
other words. that you don't want more
than she has put out. When you see
a child that you want to fondle at the
other siie of the room you say to her,
"Arrive here" And the child prompt.
" s'arrives" -..
In England when we speak OF walk
ing we refer to 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 balloon walks. and
boat walks. Stranger still. the
hands Of clock walk round the face!
A clock. by the way. never goes: It
"works.''
Unless you are very ultimate or very
ride you never say to your fair part.
t,er at dinner. Twill you have some
brcad?" etc You inquire. will your
excellenry have some bread?" or. "Will
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 corpse.
You are with" cold In the same
way you are occasionally "with' heat.
"with" headache. with" hunger or
with" thirst. When you have occa.
sion to discuss the weather yo,, say.
ut makes cold" ut makes fog"
etc. On your way home from an en-.
tertainmetlt you tell your companion
that II '.makes"" dark.
# speaking Of her husband . wife
says he Ia a :'tame" man. She merely
means that he IL man Of peace and
justice.
The word 'house" means more than
with us. Your buttons share your own
privilege Of living in a house, The
buttonholes are called 'houses Of
the bpttons."' The squares on chess
board are also ':ho,ises.:: You don't
say. "I'm going to shave" You say.
"I'm going to do the beard" Neither
do you say on the way to the bar.
ber's. "l'n 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 q distinction sou
say "fineers OF the hand'' OF
''f,ngers Of the foot Instead OF
telling the servant to set the table
you tell her to PUT" ii. When you
60 to the rllnater sou "assist." You
don't mean by that that you 'coiae
on nor oven that you do little scene
shifting. You mean that you are there.
Residents in flats who mediate tax.
ips holiday Il, PORTUGAL Will Ho Is.
lieyed ia hnav That 40 eAr playS tbs
piano there They merely 'to,.ch" ii,
Neither do they ring bells They
"touch" them a|*". Hut they play"
Stones. mennine that they throw
them. and I" ship at sea "rlays" whe',
1t pitches and losses.
BE- careful how you tell your luul
lady that sou intend to dine out or
she may think. with a shrug of the
shoulders. that you intend dining
"outside"-i e.. IN the garden. IN an
sher to the kind inquiries Of yuut
friends don't say that you are we'll;
say that you are "gocd Ee careful
In Your Use Of words. Some wo!s,s
similar in form are widely different L,
meaning as' an .Ameri' an missionary
once discovered to his cost when
preaching III Brazil. once Portuguese
colony I'll. s,liect WIS 1.-THE t'fo;;!
gal So:l." nnd he yraveiy informed his
hearers t!,a, when the voting man re-
turned h"ne ''',' father killed for lin
the fattcd beetle. Hut he had merely
made u ni,'.i<' IN one solitary vowel
nsl"ei ins" bridge IncAns y bridge
that Is imnuvabie mot a dra wbrtdge,
Etagnant water also Sleeps" So do
trucks or trains that wait anywhere
during the night When they laugt il,
Portugal they unite themselves to
laugh and when they cry they "un-
make themselves in tears" A persist
entity unfortunate man says. II an, SO
unluckv that If fell Oil my back
shon!d lreak my nose"--London An.