Dawn

Dawn

Monday, February 07, 2005

As in many countries these days, English words are used in Spain to give a hint of - would you believe - exoticism in all sorts of situations. Reading the business section of El Mundo yesterday, I noticed an ad from a recruitment firm blessed with the name ‘Fittest’. One can see the logic but it’s a wonderful example of how things can go wrong when someone is unaware of the slang meaning of a chosen word. In case you don’t know, to be ‘fit’ in modern British English means to be, shall we say, physically appealing.

I also came up against the company name Makeateam. It took me a while to realise that it wasn’t an Arabic term but an English composite made up by some ex-athletes.

To point up the lack of dialogue around the EU Constitution, the government here has criticised the opposition for being insufficiently supportive of the document. If you thought this might amount to a suggestion that the opposition was damning it with faint praise, think again. But what would you expect from a party which campaigned at the last election on the theme ‘We Love Europe”? It’s all a universe away from the UK.

Quote of the Day

A satirist is both an idealist and a pessimist. He insists that we should be better but doubts that we ever shall be

Tobias Jones, pretending to be G K Chesterton

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