One of the disadvantages of living on the seventh floor in a building whose elevator dates from the sixties or seventies is that you will occasionally have to walk up the stairs because the elevator is either broken, or some %^%^$ has not ensured that the door is closed properly. It's usually our door that sticks, but the fourth floor one is a bit dodgy too. Murphy's Law being what it is, the lift is only ever out of action when you have returned home after
a) you have consumed copious amounts of alcohol, or
b) you have bought and are carrying the entire contents of the local shops.
Today it was 'b', and I have to go out again later to buy more stuff.
And now it's raining. Moan, bitch, mutter, grumble.
Still lovin' it though.
UPDATE: El ascensor es functionar! Which reminds me: in my Spanish class a few weeks ago, our regular teacher was off sick and the stand-in taught us the names of rooms in houses/flats. (I still do not believe that the Spanish call the space between your front door and the rest of the house/flat, 'el hall'. I just don't). He had a different style from our usual teacher: she likes to torture us with grammar, whereas his preferred method is pronunciation. The Spanish word for a lift is 'ascensor'. Say it.
Assensor.
No. Say 'orrrrrrrrrr.'
Orrrrrrr.
Vale**. Say 'then'.
Then.
No, not 'then' like English then. 'Then' with more push on the 'th'.
Then.
Vale. Say 'thensorrrrrrrrrrr.'
Thensorrrrrrrrrrr.
Muy bien. Say 'ass'.
Ass.
Vale. 'Assthensorrrrrrrrr.'
Athsensor, Arsensorr, Ascensor, etc.
*I don't know if that's right - if anyone who really speaks Spanish would care to correct me - I mean steps or stairs en una escalera.
**Vale, pronounced bahlay. Means OK.
What's in a Name?
2 days ago
4 comments:
You've got it correct!
It is "One hundred fifty steps"... physical steps, as in walking, strides etc...
You are correct once again in that "stairs" is "escalera". You'll also hear "piso" (floor) used a lot too.
I feel like a realtor...
Keep up the blog!
Keefie: glad to see/read that you are still loving it. Cooked anything with pimenton yet?!
HMHB
Keil: gracias!
HMHB: say 'ton'
say 'men'
say 'menton'
say 'pee'
say 'peementon'
If you were walking along, then yes you'd be correct. Climbing stairs may be different though.
Round here they'd say "ciento cincuenta escalones", referring to the steps themselves. I know, I have 42 of the little buggers between me and the street below, no two being the same size or shape.
NB. Actually, nobody round here would say the above because they're andalú and they don't speak Proper Spanish - e.g. Madrid Man would say "Voy a la casa de mi tío" - 'I'm going to my uncle's house'. here it would be "Boy anka tito" or something similar sounding.
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