Dear Members and Constituents,
A few years ago, in business school, I heard the story of the Chevy Nova and it’s disastrous commercial failure in Latin America. You see, “no va” in Spanish means “it does not go” (presumably anywhere). While I was not familiar with that case in particular (perhaps a testament to how bad a flop the launch really was), I had encountered several comical inadvertent translations. There was the time my grandmother (an American visiting us in Ecuador) yelled at the maid from the shower “Cecilia, la sopa”. Cecilia, who spoke no English, was puzzled as to why my grandmother would want soup in the shower (needless to say, she wanted soap –“el jabón”). There was the American exchange student who at an awkward moment revealed she was very “embarazada” (which translates to pregnant, adding to the “embarrassment” she meant to convey). The same student was very “exitada” to see me (I must have been a hot thirteen year old for her to be “aroused”… only later did I realize she meant “excited”). Today Julian Beso (Kiss) has taken it upon himself to bring us an extra dozen (yes you heard right, five dozen donuts await at my desk). So let there be no misunderstanding… today would be a good day to do some recruiting. Bring a friend along for a donut “on the house” (as with most figurative expressions don’t dictionary-translate this expression).
Happy Friday!
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