I only know a little Spanish. I took four semester in college and I had to read One Hundred Years of Solitude, the Spanish version. I loved that book, but I cheated and bought an Englsih version too. I took French in high school. I only remember parts of the Our Father and the sign of the cross. Oh wait, I also remember how to say, “Saint Joan Antida, pray for us.” (The benefits of a Catholic education in the early 1980’s.)
I don’t recall any multiple meaning words in either language. Maybe there were some but I have know recollection. That is a very real possibility. I want to learn how to be fluent in Spanish. I am extremely grateful for being fluent in English. Why? Well you know…
English Makes No Sense! It is my blog’s name, my TikTok username, my Instagram name and Facebook page. But it is also true. English has at least 150 multiple meaning words! 150! Don’t believe me? Ask Siri. I did.
Learning a language is hard enough, but throw in 150 multiple meaning words and you have a serious problem. To all you learning English as a second language, ” Cheers, to you!” You have my respect and admiration. (Cheers itself has more than one meaning!)
I am going to take a look at one word to prove my point. Let’s look at the word cool. Cool is not just a multiple meaning word, it is a totally American word too. Let me explain.
The definition of cool is,“of or at a fairly low temperature”. You know, not too hot, not too cold, cool. For example, ” The weather is cool today, I need a jacket.”
Or it can mean, “ showing no friendliness toward a person or not showing any excitement toward a project or job.” “Joe was cool to the idea of meeting the new boss.” Or, “They were friends, but now they are cool towards each other.”
Then you have the totally American version, “Cool!” for anything that is hip, trendy, or hot as in popular. Or it can be used to show things are good between people. For example if you and your friend had a fight and you see each other later, you may ask, “Are we cool?” hopefully the response will be, “Yeah, we ‘re cool.” Then things will be okay.
Then there are icons that are cool, like James Dean, Frank Sinatra, and that 70’s cool, the Fonz. Cool even has its own emoji!
Crazy, isn’t it? How can one keep it straight! It’s not cool!
I never learned a Spanish or a French equivalent of the word, cool. If there is one and you want to share it, please leave me a comment. If you want to watch a short video on the totally American word, cool click on the link below. If you don’t want to do either one, that’s cool too!
English Makes No Sense 