My New Native Canadian Barbijo
Sunday, June 14, 2020
barbijo
De barba.
1. m. Sal., Arg., Bol., Par. y Ur. barboquejo.
2. m. Arg. y Bol. Pieza de tela con que, por asepsia, los médicos y auxiliares se cubren la boca y la nariz.
Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (RAE)
When my Rosemary and I visited recently the Gardenworks Nursery on Lougheed Highway I was keen to buy a facemask I had seen there before, that Rosemary had told me I did not need.
I tend to think that our pandemic is going to continue for a long while. I wanted a facemask that I could wash which at the same time was made in Canada. I particularly liked its Native Canadian theme pattern.
To speak two languages is to live a life of comparison. Particularly at my advanced age of 77 I like to notice words that are perfect in one language that are not or simply do not exist in another.
As an example when you go to a lecture and ask for a handout you will find that there is no equivalent for that word in Spanish. To say, “This idiot was riding my bumper and I was rear-ended,” is almost impossible to say in Spanish without going into an elaborate explanation.
My native country has an ambivalent relationship with foreign languages, and particular with English. The downtown core, the financial district, of Buenos Aires is called “la city” (the city) by most Argentines and good newspapers. A living room is called “el living”.
With the pandemic lockdown in full force there, newspapers ask in Spanish when “running” (jogging) is going to begin. Recently a baby was born with Covid19 which was transmitted via the placenta by its mother. It seems the mother caught the virus at a baby shower. Now that word has entered the Argentine lexicon!
But I am proud to note that Argentines almost all wear a facemask and they use a very nice word barbijo.
I love my Canadian barbijo.
