Wicked Spanish [Paperback]

Howard Tomb (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wicked S. | Publication Date: January 4, 1991

From the sneakily successful travel series with over 1 million copies in print, Wicked Spanish (over 250,000 copies in print) is the devilishly funny pocket-sized guide to language and culture in the land of manana.

From managing epic taxi rides (The Old Man and the Chevy) to Perfecting the Haggle to Tipping the Police, Wicked Spanish anticipates and prepares norteamericanos for a wide range of exotic Latin customs and conditions-also know as que sera, sera.

Explain to your innkeeper that you'd rather have private accommodations: Pero you prefiero un cuarto sin escorpiones. ("But I'd prefer a room without scorpions."). Politely ask your waiter what you're eating: QuS hace immovil dentro del mole? (What lies motionless under the spicy chocolate sauce?). And Mi abuelo perteneci. a un sindicato obrero ("My grandfather belonged to a labor union") may be just the ticket for kidnap victims of revolutionaries.

Once acclimated, you'll make clever cockfight conversation, understand Zapotec Basketball, and even enjoy a cold cerveza with your wife in a friendly men's bar: No la mires. No le hables. No la toques. ("Do not stare at her. Do not address her. Do not touch her."). Above all, you'll learn the real meaning of Vaya con Dios.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Howard Tomb is the author of the Wicked Travel books. He also writes for the Sunday Travel Section of the New York Times.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

THE OLD MAN AND THE CHEVY

The manana concept is a paradox of Hispanic culture. While the clerks and waiters of an entire nation may appear to be in a collective coma, the taxi drivers seem to have Benzedrine in their blood.

The antiquity of many taxis only adds to the terror of high-speed rides. But before you resort to violence or leap from the vehicle, try a little verbal persuasion.

This car is amazing.
Este carro es increíble.

I never knew chicken wire had so many uses.
Yo no sabía que la tela metálica tenía tantos usos.

When did the brakes go out?
¿Cuándo se fueron los frenos?

In the Eisenhower years?
¿En la época de Carranza?

Please give us helmets/blindfolds.
Por favor dénos cascos/unas vendas para los ojos.

Look, if you don't slow down, I won't pay you.
Mire, si no reduce la velocidad, no le voy a pagar.

That's much better, thanks.
Mucho mejor, gracias.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; 1st Printing March 1991 edition (January 4, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894808613
• ISBN-13: 978-0894808616
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,206 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Spanish
  • #70 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Spanish
  • #80 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Words & Language > Study & Teaching

More About the Author

I enjoy travel, as you might expect from the books I've written. When I go abroad I prefer not to have a lot of plans or even hotel reservations. Many of my favorite experiences on the road -- and the ones I remember best -- have been in situations where I'm out of my element. That often leads to physical or emotional discomfort, but it's almost always worth it.

For example, the first time I set out to scuba dive with sharks, in a place called Palau in the western Pacific, I felt scared. The water was 900 feet deep and I didn't have a weapon. But when they swam lazily over to check me out, my fear turned to awe. Their incredible beauty, curiosity and caution surprised me. (Yes, I would get out of the water if I saw a tiger or great white.)

My brother and I once walked into a tough little biker bar in New Richmond, a small town in southern Ohio. Everyone stopped talking and stared at us. We're city boys; they probably thought we were lost. But we ordered Bud longnecks and shots of Maker's Mark and punched some Patsy Cline into the jukebox, and pretty soon everyone was back in conversation. Within half an hour the owner was introducing us to her daughter and we were shooting pool with the bikers, even though we didn't agree on all the rules. They found out we were people, even though we live in New York and L.A., and we were able to see them as individuals through their beards and leather.

That, to me, is the point of travel: not just to "see things" but to make the world a bigger place.

Although my travel books are meant to be funny rather than practical, my hope is that they help people appreciate other perspectives better and take themselves and their frustrations a little less seriously.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I agree, HILARIOUS!, June 7, 1998

By 

Jay Newberg (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wicked Spanish (Paperback)

I bought this in the airport on the way to Chile. I laughed out loud many times on the plane & when I met up with co-workers in Santiago, THEY laughed out loud. Rating this on laughs per page, it's not a bargain--it's a steal.

29 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Funny, but inaccurate & inappropriate, May 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wicked Spanish (Paperback)

These are the kinds of comments that are bound to get you a punch in the nose or worse in many parts of Latin America. They are humorous as satire. However, the Spanish comes across as literal translations of the English comments. It ends up sounding like a debased form of the language that doesn't even get the "wicked" points across accurately. With few exceptions, the Spanish comments were word-for-word translations that don't mean very much in Spanish. Waste of time.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious! Wonderful gift book for travellers and friends, February 1, 1998

By 

J. Rich "Raybob" (Southeast US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wicked Spanish (Paperback)

I spent most of an evening laughing reading this book. I recently gave it to a couple of co-workers who went to Peru, one fluent in Spanish, the other who spoke none at all. They each used some of the phrases and made several new friends.