Customer Reviews

Wicked Spanish

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

A humor book, not a language book. If you're going to a Spanish speaking country and never expect to use the language again, then you'll find this book helpful. But most of the book is devoted to fictitious dialog with "locals" that are intended to be humorous but are in some cases are offensive, perpetuating steriotypes, in my opinion. There are a few helpful phrases. My suggestion is that you find it in a bookstore, skim it, then put it back on the shelf...

I bought this book at least 15 yrs ago from a travel bkstore. My BFF borrowed it & that was the last I saw of it 4 many yrs. Just got it back from her & still laugh hysterically. I speak a lotta languages, sometimes even english, so i could understand the spanish but didn't need it. I have learned many real epithets & slang from the many delightful, hard-working south americans I have worked with in restaurant kitchens.Book obviously geared to s.america, specifically mexico, & unfortunately is not exactly highlighting the many positive aspects of an otherwise beautiful and ancient culture w/a complicated mix of indigenous populations and the conquistadors from spain. i greatly admire the varied cuisine of mexico & latin america, as well as the arts and natural beauty of the place & ppl. that said,there r clearly some, well, not-so-positive aspects of gov't & business procedures in mexico and other countries in america del sud & those things do deserve 2 b lampooned. I wouldn't speak most of the phrases in the bk to someone I didn't know very well unless I was certain they had a tolerant sense of humor. I don't do Jesus jokes for devout, serious Christians either. Bad form, either of them. It DOES say "wicked", no? Yes, my little gringos, you have been forewarned by the TITLE!!!BTW, when I bought this, there were 2 guys from some other country I couldn't identify who were reading whatever the one was for their language & they too were laughing hysterically from their side of the translation, or mebbe they were just laughing at the awkward literal translations that made no sense in their native tongue. Either way, still funny. If you take yourself & everyone else too seriously,don't buy this book.It's funny becuz it paints a rather dismal picture which can be true, but not in all cases. Poverty, bribery, kidnapping, etc. r not funny to the ppl who experience them, but you either laugh or cry.There r some ppl in my family w/numbers tattooed on their arms but they still have a sense of humor. How about u?Mebbe it's what kept em sane.
I'm buying my BFF another copy so she won't steal mine & covet all the others in the series. Can't wait to see how they mutilate the other cultures!Is there one by someone in another country about the US? Please?!!!Don't leave us out!I love you, Howard Tomb.