• shalafi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    33
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 months ago

    I say “gracias” all the time. But now I’m wondering…

    Went to the local Mexican joint, waiter started talking to my Filipina wife in Spanish. She gamely answered back with a word or two, was obviously confused.

    Now I’m scared that people will think I’m mistaking them for Mexican when I toss out a word or two.

    Just to fuck with my wife; She was talking to a friend in Tagalog when I walked in the kitchen.

    “Hey! It’s $friend on the phone! Say hi!”

    “Nǐhǎo.”

    • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      It’s worth noting that Tagalog and some other Filipino languages share a pretty large vocabulary with Spanish actually. Of course they have huge differences in other ways but she may have actually understood a bit.

      That wasn’t the point of the comment though I know.

  • Nightwatch Admin@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    5 months ago

    If I was that waiter, and it was an honest attempt at being polite by your mom, I’d have been happy with that friendly customer. Kind people, you are my tribe and I love you all dearly!

  • tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    5 months ago

    In the suburb I grew up in, a lot of the restaurant workers spoke Spanish, so even at the sushi place the Japanese chef would speak Spanish to the staff, saying gracias could be no different than arigato or thank you lol