Hey Paul. Do you have a pet?
Sí, José, tengo un pajarito.
Yeah Joe, I have a bird.
¿Qué tipo?
What kind?
Es un periquito. Se llama "Mickey".
He is a parakeet. His name is Mickey.
¿De qué color es tu periquito, azul, blanco, verde, o amarillo?
What color is your parakeet, blue, white, green, or yellow?
Es azul y es muy galán . ¿Y tu? Tienes una mascota?
He is blue and very good looking. And you? Do you have a pet?
Por supuesto. Tengo un pez. Se llama Nemo. El es azul también.
Of course. I have a fish. His name is “Nemo”. He is blue too.
¿Un pez? ¡Qué aburrido!
A fish? How boring!
¿Por qué me dices eso? Mi pez no es aburrido. Él está muy divertido.
Why do you say that? My fish isn't boring. He is a lot of fun.
¿Cómo crees? A que tu pez ni sabe quien eres.
What's the matter with you! I'll bet your fish doesn't even know who you are.
No es cierto. Mi pez me conoce bien.
That's not true. My fish knows me well.
Dime ¿cómo tu sabes, que tu pez te conoce?
Tell me. How do you know that your fish knows you?
En las mañanas cuando lo saludo él está feliz, vivito y coleando.
In the morning when I greet him he is happy, lively, and wagging his tail.
¡Váya hombre! ¡No manches! Me estás tomando el pelo.
Get out of here man! Don't feed me that! You are pulling my leg.
Note: There are some interesting phrases here:
A que - "I'll bet" This is short for "Apuesto que". The infinitive is "apostar", to bet. You can say "apuesto que" with no problem but most people just seem to say "A que" for "I´ll bet".
¿Cómo crees? - Literally translates as “What are you thinking?” but in English we would more likely say “What's the matter with you!”
Vivito y coleando - “Alive and tail wagging”. This phrase is a good one to use when someone asks “¿Cómo amaneciste? ( “How did you greet the dawn?”), or ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?), I guarantee that if you answer “Vivito y coleando” (alive and tail wagging) they will give you a nice big smile and a thumbs up.
¡No manches! - “Don't sh_t me!” or better yet, “No manches güey” - “Don't be sh_tting me man!”. Actually “no manches” is sort of a combination of the verbs “manchar” (to make dirty) and “mamar” (to suckle). A more vulgar form of “No manches” is “No mames” and if you listen to a bunch of youths talking on the street (both boys and girls) it won't be long before you hear someone say “No mames güey”. The “ güey is most often pronounced like “Whey”. If you would like to sound much nicer then just say “No inventes” meaning “Don't make things up” or “Don't exaggerate”.
Me estás tomando el pelo. - I translated this as “You are pulling my leg” but a literal translation would be “You are taking my hair”. In Mexico when you are fooling someone you don't “pull their leg” you “take their hair (or fur)”.
Now I have a confession to make. I have two pets and they were the basis for this dialog. One is a blue parakeet name “Mickey” and the other is a blue Betta tropical fish (Siamese) named “Nemo”. I promised them both that if they were good I would mention them in my blog. One more thing. Nemo really does answer my greeting every morning “feliz, vivito y coleando”.
8 comments:
I too have had Bettas; 2 actually, the first named Alpha, the second named Beta. And YES, they are very responsive. Both of mine did the same thing, they'd be just hanging, and when I'd approach them they'd each get animated, move around and greet me with their fishy wiggles.
Hi Bob. My husband raises birds. Parakeets, canaries, and other tweeters. When he walks into their huge cage, a few of them jump on his shoulder as he is going around to refill their food pans. I had a rabbit that was always sitting on my lap facing me and trying to stare me down. Picture that. Have a great day and I believe you when you say your Mickey and Nemo are responsive to you. Have a great day.
They make great pets, don't they? I've had both parakeets and betta fish before. Would love to see pictures of yours.
Just poppped in to say your copy is in the mail. Don't shudder when you get it, because it looks better on the computer.:) take care.
Bob I looked up what Hydra meant. The name actually sounded pretty good although I didn't know what it mean. It is an organism. How weird. I will keep the name for the clay "thing" I'm still working on. Just thought I would let you know. Learn something new everyday.
The Hydra is a small multicellular organism in the genus Hydra. These creatures are found in fresh water all over the world, and they have a number of distinctive traits which make them interesting to scientists. If you're interesting in seeing a hydra for yourself, you can try taking a sample of some local fresh water and looking at it under a microscope; in addition to hydras, you may see an assortment of interesting aquatic creatures including water bears, diatoms, and rotifers.
The body of a hydra is formed in the shape of a tube, and the animals demonstrate radial symmetry, meaning that they are symmetrical along multiple planes when viewed head on. One end of a hydra has a foot called a basal disc; the animals secrete an adhesive substance to attach themselves to substrates like rocks and plants. The mouth opening of the creature is on the other end of the tube, and it is surrounded by tentacles which have small stinging cells for stunning prey. These stinging cells can be found in many members of the Cnidaria phylum to which hydras belong; jellyfish are perhaps the most famous stinging representatives of this phylum.
To eat, a hydra extends its tube shaped body and traps prey in its tentacles. The animals predate on a range of other small invertebrates, with waste products from the digestion process being secreted through the animal's mouth opening. The animals can reproduce sexually or asexually, depending on their environment, and they also exhibit hermaphroditic tendencies which allow them to produce eggs and then fertilize them.
Depending on the extent of the damage, hydras are able to partially regenerate themselves after injuries; in the 1800s, biologists mistakenly believed that they could force a hydra through a sieve and they individual pieces would regenerate. While this is not, in fact, the case, the animals are remarkably hardy. Unlike other animal species, a hydra also does not age; a 1998 paper by Daniel Martinez detailed extensive research on this topic, and other researchers have since followed suit.
The largest hydras are still so small that observers need microscopes to discern their features. Along with numerous other tiny aquatic organisms, hydras demonstrate the incredibly diverse life which can be found on every corner of the Earth. While these creatures might seem extremely bizarre to humans, they have survived for millions of years, enduring changing environments and animal populations with remarkable adaptability.
Bob I do want that name for "thing." I think Hydra sounds very special and that comment you left on my blog was very informative. I definitely will keep the name Hydra. I hope you don't think I didn't want that name, as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted that name. Thanks Bob for the information of Hydra. I appreciate it. Take care and have a great weekend.
Trabajo con una mujer puertorriqueña que me ayude con mi español.
Me pidió "¿cómo estás?", a que respondí 'vivito y coleando'. Ella sonrió, reída y me dijo "muy bien".
Gracias,
Jaime
Jaime,
¡Suerte matador!
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