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Home » A rabbit ear hat story

A rabbit ear hat story

The New Neo Posted on by

Yesterday commenter “charles” wrote:

The closest I have ever come to knitting was to think those little “pussy cat ears” hats were cute.

That was before they became a political thing.

Now, I think they are downright ugly!

Well, I’ve got a story—not about pussy cat ears hats, but bunny ear hats. For little children.

Many many years ago I was visiting someone who lived in Costa Rica. Although I’d taken high school Spanish, my skills were incredibly rusty. And I’m very shy about speaking foreign languages anyway; it’s not my forte.

So I kept trying to find a moment to say something in Spanish, but I was too self-conscious. Finally, I saw what I thought was my opportunity.

There was a group of women in the neighborhood, and one was holding a little girl who had on a hat someone had knit which had little bunny ears. Very cute kid, cute hat. So I decided to say, “Gloriana looks like a rabbit.”

“Gloriana” was the child’s name.

Now, you might say that’s not much of a comment and not all that witty. But hey, it was my maiden voyage. I was just going to get my feet wet. And I was quite nervous.

So I screwed up my courage and said, “Gloriana se parece un conejo.”

At least, that’s what I meant to say. That what I intended to say.

But instead it came out like this: “Gloriana se parece un cojone.”

I was met with shocked stares, and realized what I had said. That was the last time I tried to speak Spanish.

Comments

A rabbit ear hat story — 30 Comments

  2. They don’t seem to have said anything that bad, but I am reading comments that claim the Spanish spoken by O’Rourke, Castro, and Booker wasn’t all that great. Castro, despite his name and heritage, only recently took some Spanish lessons.

  3. That is funny, kind of like going into a Tex-Mex resturant when you have to leave your name for a seat and tell them your name is C. O. Jones and watch them keep a straight face.

  4. I know the feeling.

    Some of my greatest hits are saying, “Wear me” instead of “Take me with you” and “She is enchanted by Hispanic men” instead of “She thinks it’s cool that we can speak Spanish with each other.”

    Which is why the only Spanish I have spoken on my only trip to Mexico was “¿Cuántos?” in a shop.

  5. I would have been better to have said, “Gloriana se parece un congrejo.” Equally incorrect, but less unpleasant.

  6. In the context of pussy hats, conejo used in Costa Rica likely runs little risk, but in Spain? Looks a bit multiplex . . . like pussy in the US. Or manju, in Japan. We non-native speakers are often innocently treading into fraught ground, wholly unawares.

  10. I once announced at a gathering of my peers in Costa Rica that I was pregnant (I am male). I survived that fiasco and kept learning.

    The process of learning a language requires one walk through those mine fields. You will never master a new language with out sticking your foot in your mouth multiple times.

  11. The Spanish slang word for the sexual act varies somewhat according to region. I was initially most familiar with the term used in Mexico (chingar). In my first months in Argentina, several geology grad students introduced me to some coeds. When asked which one I preferred, I replied in what I believed was a tactful manner: “No puedo escoger.” ( I can’t choose.) I then found out that I had put my foot in my mouth, as coger in Argentina and in most of Latin America refers to the sexual act.

    Which reminds me of a false cognate. Madrejones is the name of both a village and a gas field in northern Argentina. It sounds like a takeoff on Mother Jones, the labor firebrand, doesn’t it? Not so. Madrejones is the plural of madrejón, a term used in northern Argentina for a dried out riverbed.

    It can definitely help to get instruction in the local swear words. I got some instruction on a rig in Guatemala. Some time later, when frustrated while working on replacing a part, I uttered “Milaná.” The rig hand working with me, not expecting a Gringo to know that word, asked me, “De donde es Ud?” (Where are you from).

    Bryan, that would be cangrejo.

  12. Humorous vignette. Cojone is not uttered in polite company in Latin America. Save it for after your 5th shot of tequila in a dingy cantina with no sober ladies present.

  13. Roy Nathanson on June 27, 2019 at 7:17 pm said:
    I once announced at a gathering of my peers in Costa Rica that I was pregnant (I am male). I survived that fiasco and kept learning.
    * * *
    But you would be entitled to have an abortion, if the Democrats win in 2020.

  14. My wife speaks Spanish (she lived in Argentina for a few years and has done interpretation work here in the States, though even she’ll say she’s pretty rusty anymore). She said Beto was overpronouncing trying to make it sound like he was very fluent but came across as a beginner, though he was at least understandable.

    Of Booker she said he sounded more like he was speaking gibberish with an accent to make it sound like he knew Spanish when he really doesn’t.

  16. In order that we not leave neo’s ripe headline totally unremarked: I believe many of us (of a certain age) upon seeing “rabbit ear hat” might be forgiven if we immediately conjured a vision of someone with the TV antenna fastened to their skull moving under instruction from a family member (“a little bit left — no, left, not right!”) so to pull down a somewhat less vague reception of the World Series or some other such momentous viewing event. How soon we forget the travails of early electronic mass communication.

  17. AesopFan on June 28, 2019 at 12:49 am said:

    Back during internet forum flame wars, I had a debate with somebody named Snatch or whatever, part of the Ayn Rand faction of slightly progressive libertarians. Anti gun and what not. Pro sexual liberation and what not.

    He or rather they made the point about the Berliner being JFK’s faux pas, but I had a different gut reaction to it. I found nothing wrong with it, and looking at the translation records, there was some definite dispute over it.

    This was back in 2003 or so.The “good old days”, where human ignorance was paraded, crowded, and heralded together in small tight knit communities like tribal warzones in the Amazon.

  18. The First Community to come out as Flat Earth positive or at least non negative, vis the last.

    1. Amish

    2. Latter Day Saints

    3. Quakers

    4. Free Masons

    5. Yehovah’s Witnesses

    6. Catholics
    7. Deep State executives

    Last but not least. The Leftist alliance

    Now I just have to do the odds.

  19. Things I learned in a Puerto Rican restaurant on the lower East Side of Manhattan
    Saying Porco Cabron =/= Porco Carbon.
    ESPECIALLY when addressing a burly guy with a big carving knife behind the counter.

  20. I remember the evening we all discovered that if I touched the tv while stretching far to my right, the picture improved… That was a bad-viewing-angle night for me, for sure.

  21. You know what, one can use bunny ears as a counter to the pussy cat ears. Bunnies create a lot of bunnies.

  22. I used to be fairly fluent in Peruvian Spanish, which the Peruvians themselves refer to as “Castillano,” just to show their proximity to the classical language. Used it all day, every day, for work and play, so it was more than conversational level, and I’m blessed with a good ear for mimicry, so it sounded good enough to fool some people into thinking I was a native speaker.

    I thought O’Rourke, Booker and Castro did moderately well at demonstrating their ability in the language — I just wondered why they did it. On a stage full of panderers, they came across as a step above at pandering. And I certainly hope there is not a Democratic voter out there who is persuaded that speaking Spanish is a qualification for the presidency.

    As for having a good accent, what’s that line from My Fair Lady? Something like “the French don’t care what you say, exactly, as long as you pronounce it correctly.”

  23. Yarmarskar, most people get smarter as they get older, you surprise me, you go the opposite way

    your list shows incredible levels of ignorance, miseducation, and downright hatred of others who believe things you dont… cause your soooo special and right (Right?)

    You will recall that conditions like this confronted even the most learned men up until the time of Columbus.

    However, given the list you show, i would say the AMISH And the MENOINITES could teach you a lot
    but you dont learn, so i think NOT

    “The Amish have deliberately made decisions as to what will or will not be allowed among members of the Amish community. The Amish do not pass judgment on outsiders.”

    To the Amish i have known, what you do is hurtful and hateful and a show
    of force compared to their passive natures… and their refusal to fight…

    you attack the helpless who do NOTHING to you, do not harm you, do not talk
    against you, do not have a bad opinion of you or of races, they exist on their own, bothering no one…

    what kind of person ARE YOU? making fun of them? why?
    you think we are juvinile and commiserate on misery?

    what is this problem you and other left have with letting people alone who dont think like you?

    with amish you left out menonites… familiar to you? they look almost hte same…
    when i went to the ARK in kentucky, it was quite interesting… do i agree? no.
    but then again… i have been with animists on a volcano…
    been with buddists at temple… sat shiva and participated in sader
    was a Gardnarian priest… and had great summers with Zoroastrians,
    wiccans, eris worshipers, satanists, alexandrians, and more..

    oh, and one of the best days of my life was when a Cardinal of the Catholic church picked me up hitchiking in NJ
    we had theological discussions AFTER i declined to kiss his ring on entering… he bought me lunch at moms peppermill diner just outside of princeton

    my wife is from a muslim majority country, she is christian.. but her dad was buhdist..

    want to bet i get along with more people, enjoy life more, and judge peope a lot less than you?

    The First Community to come out as Flat Earth positive or at least non negative, vis the last.
    1. Amish
    2. Latter Day Saints
    3. Quakers
    4. Free Masons
    5. Yehovah’s Witnesses
    6. Catholics
    7. Deep State executives

    want to know what is really offensive about your list?
    their beliefs wont hurt anyone

    leftist socialist beliefs had led to the extermination, forced labor,
    murders, tortrures and more of nearly a half billion people…

    how DARE you make fun of people who openly decide to believe waht they want to believe?
    while your point is to openly hate them for that… unless derrission is love…

    every so often a hint of the real person inside comes out..

    by the way. the Amish, menonites, catholics, quakers, yehova witnesses, and so on all are christian!!

    you think kiril of the kbg and the russian orthodix church is absolved? how about luthrans?
    what do you tthink of the essenes?

    and as i said.. i dont see lubavich there… i dont see hasidim.. reformed?

    oh, and free masons are not a religion, you can be any religion and part of free masonry
    just ask me, im square and on the level when i tell you that..

    ONE MORE THING

  24. HERE IS ONE MORE THING

    the christians started all the public schooling..
    they were the ones that went out and tried to educate natives (hated for it now)

    Without them, most of people would never have learned enough to discover the world was round.. Galileo was educated by the christians…

    but i am so suprised in your list you left out the MUSLIMS.

    after all, your all upset that the christians sit there, stand and kneel and have beliefs you dont agree with…

    but… do christians wage jihad or turn the other cheek?

    are you familiar with Tatbir? thats when muslims cut themselves and hurt themselves bloody in the street… some Ayatollahs allwo it, some dont… (way too simple an explanation, but hey, im talking to a trite simpleton)

    The practice of Tatbir includes striking oneself with a form of a talwar “sword” on the head, causing blood to flow in remembrance of the innocent blood of Imam Husayn. Some Twelvers also hit their back and/or chest with blades attached to chains.

    oh, and you curse AMISH for believing in a flat earth (which to them matters not. they dont do planes, they dont do shipping, they live in lancaster pensylvania, flat or round, it matters not to them or you… did you realize that?

    its a inconsequential point for most of us.. mankind existed up to columbus withotu knowint it… thousands and thousands of years.. millions of years before ANY animal knew it.

    but why not curse the TWelvers..
    you know that they believe, like the christians (And jews) that a messiah will come
    but this one will only come when there is huge amounts of death and destruction
    so they got it into their head, if they reign death and destruction, they can force the mahdi to appear… not just make two periods of death and destruction, the false one that fails to call, and the real one, in which they come..

    The term Twelver refers to its adherents’ belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, lives in occultation and will reappear as the promised Mahdi.

    you have 200 millio of those running around…with THAT belif..

    oh, but lets go to some secular beliefs too..

    you probably knock on wood… but if your russian, you add spitting over your shoulder too

    whats your opinion of the rabbi in a bris using his mouth to clear blood after a circumcision?

    hey, what about cutting off the clitoris, and seweing things up so they cant feel pleasure?
    [i would take a flat earther any day over THAT]

    oh… and what about Sutti? you know, when the man died you put the lady on the funeral pyre too
    but you dont kill her first… oh, and it was originally VOLUNTARY..

    given the name…
    i wonder how many of these Yarmarskar follows
    (if any and how superior he feels if he doesnt and is rude)

    here is a very small a partial list that makes the superior quite equal in inferiority:

    • If one person accidentally steps on another person’s foot, it is common for the person who was stepped on to lightly step on the foot of the person who stepped first. It is said that they thus avoid a future conflict.
    • Birthday parties should be celebrated on or after one’s birthday, not before. So when one’s birthday falls during the week, it’s best to celebrate the following weekend. And never give someone birthday wishes before their birthday.
    • Talking about future success, especially boasting about it, is considered bad luck. It is considered better to be silent until the success has been achieved or to even sound pessimistic.
    • Returning home for forgotten things is a bad omen. It is better to leave it behind, but if returning is necessary, one should look in the mirror before leaving the house again. Otherwise the journey will be bad.
    • Many Russians consider giving gifts of sharp objects, like knives or scissors, to be taboo. This taboo may be avoided by the donor taking a symbolic payment, for example one Russian ruble, in exchange as if it is a trade, not a gift.
    • Birds that land on a windowsill should be chased away. If they tap on the window, or fly into it (open or closed) it is considered a very bad omen (often of death).
    • If a chicken crows at you three times before noon, the death of a close family member can be expected within a fortnight. The chicken should be killed, but not eaten, as consuming it will bring about further misfortune.
    • Things bought for a newborn baby (such as clothes, toys, furniture, etc.) should only be purchased after the baby is born. This is usually done in a big hurry as a result.
    • It is often considered taboo to step over people, or parts of their body, who are on the ground. It is often said that it will prevent the person from growing (if they are not fully grown already). It is better to politely ask the person to move or to find a way around them. If one accidentally steps over a person (or people), it is sometimes standard to step backwards over them.
    • Unmarried people should not sit at the corner of the table. Otherwise they will not marry. This mostly applies to girls, and often only young girls. Sometimes it is said that the affected individual will not marry for 7 years, making it all right for young children to sit there.
    • When giving an animal as a gift (a cat, dog, bird, etc.), the receiver should give the giver a symbolic sum of money, for example one Russian ruble.
    • A purse (or any other money holder) as a gift requires a little money inside. Given empty it is said to cause bad financial luck.
    • A funeral procession brings good luck. But one should never cross its path or it is bad luck.
    • A woman with empty water buckets coming towards you is considered a bad omen.
    • A group of two or more people should not walk on different sides of a tree. They should all keep to one side or the other.
    • Bread should only be cut with a knife, not with your hands. Otherwise, it is said, that your life will be broken. The opposite is held true by some people.
    • Two or more people should never use one towel at the same time to dry their hands or bodies, or it is said to bring conflict.
    • A stranger should not look at a newborn baby before it is a certain age (between two months and one year). If one looks at the baby it is considered bad luck to compliment it. Instead, one could say, “Oh, what an ugly child!”.
    • It’s good luck to trip on your left foot.
    • One should never hand a knife directly to another person, as it is said that the two will get into a fight. Instead a person should always place the knife down on a surface, and only then can the other person pick it up. In several cases you can give it directly, but only pointing the sharp end to yourself and making the knife’s handle accessible for the opposite person.
    • One is to never lick food off a knife. Doing so will make you a cruel person.
    • If one feels that he or she may have been cursed by someone (had the “evil eye” put on them) or just has the feeling of a hostile presence, it is recommended to remove one’s coat and then put it back on starting with the hand opposing the usually used one. It is also recommended to pin a French Pin inside your clothing to avoid the curse of the evil eye in the first place.
    • One should not shake hands or give something through a threshold.
    • Whistling in a house would bring misfortune to that household (see origins below).
    • It is considered taboo to give something that is broken or has a defect as a gift.
    • Before one takes an exam, someone else would say, “?? ???? ?? ????!” which roughly translates to “neither fur, nor feather!” which means good luck. To this, the one taking the exam would reply, “? ?????!” which means, “Go to the Devil!” or “To the Devil!” which is a way of securing good luck.
    • If one walks underneath or ducks under the arm of another person, he or she must go back underneath that person’s arm. Otherwise, they will never grow to their full height.

  26. Artfldgr, enjoyed your defense of the Amish et al., and the list of customs.
    Just one thing — you said, “by the way. the Amish, menonites, catholics, quakers, yehova witnesses, and so on all are christian!!” — please add the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to that list.
    Sunday School lessons this year are on the New Testament, as it happens (every four years, in fact).

  27. want to know what is really offensive about your list?

    Want to know where you missed the turnip truck again?

  28. oh, and you curse AMISH for believing in a flat earth

    You humans, and you particularly Art, project your flaws unto others as if you need there to be Attack, so that you can React to the Attack. It’s what keeps the paranoia alive.

    Nobody ever said the AMish actually believed in Flat Earth Theory. You need to quit your delusions first before you can argue at my level or even at the level of this community.

    The reason why people get triggered reading what I write is because your ego takes control and you become nothing more than a monkey or ape animal hybrid.

  29. When in the future, Ymar talks about the Flat Earth Theory and Om and GB here curse me or making fun of me for that, I expect your Higher Self to Celestial chart force you, the human animal right here, to adhere to your self righteous principles.

    We’ll see how you do then, Art. You’re just putting more slave chains on yourself and blaming it on others. It’s not others doing it to you. It’s you doing it to yourself while your Ego perches on the Devil/Angelic side and tells you that you will be Saved.

    You will not be Saved by trying to survive via paranoia and Attack/Separation.

  30. And why is this comment in moderation? That wasn’t there when the page first loaded. That came afterwards. This is like Youtube changing the search algorithms to ensure conspiracy theories get less views. They can’t win the argument on a factual level for sure.

    Ymarsakar on June 28, 2019 at 8:25 am said:
    Your comment is awaiting moderation.
    Also for fake news, check out the Apollo money laundering scheme. That’s definitely a thing to fake.

    Also, an LDS prophet or was it leader, once mentioned that “god would never let man on the Moon” or some such. That was pretty funny, wasn’t it Aesop. His descendants are still trying to cover that one up a bit out of embarassment.

    No need, guys. He was not incorrect after all.

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