Mexican wives’ tales as true as you want them to be
Hola! It’s Hispanic Heritage Month and I have an urge to communicate to you in Spanish, but that, to some people, would be offensive. Ay yai yai…
Remember when high schools would require us to learn a foreign language? I grew up on the U.S. — Mexico border, so I took French. Don’t know much if it anymore, but I did enjoy learning how words are formed and expressions are created.
Language can be so amazing, and the Spanish language has some unforgettable phrases. Most of them come in the form of old wives’ tales that mama and nana told you. Translated they sound funny, but to us they could be a matter of life and death.
Don’t shower when it’s thundering! Someone somewhere determined that a hot shower during a thunderstorm was a dangerous act. Remember this one? Don’t go outside with wet hair! In Spanish it sounds like this: No salgas con el pelo mojado! I’m still afraid to do it.
The wonderful phrases were almost always shouted out by our moms and grandmas because they said it just as we were committing these heinous acts. Moms have an unexplainable sixth sense. As a kid, you just can’t get away with anything. A mother knows.
