I posted recently about the importance of punctuation in writing, lest Grandpa should unfortunately be eaten at the writer’s expense. As I found out during one particularly awkward moment in Spain, the placement of commas is also extremely important in speech. With the addition of a pause (in my case, I was wracking my brain for the right Spanish word), I managed to insult someone I had only met a few weeks prior. Instead of saying Feliz cumpleaños retrasado, or Happy belated birthday, I slipped in that cursed comma, Feliz cumpleaños, retrasado, and ended up turning beet red when my friend later told me that what I actually said, thanks to that deceivingly small pause, was Happy birthday, retard. It all became clear why the addressee didn’t seem too grateful for my nice wishes. Timing really is everything. (And no wonder I wasn’t drowning in a sea of Spanish friends :)

A failed attempt. Source.

About The Author

Jenny

Jenny Marshall studied Language, Culture, and Society at the University of California Santa Barbara, and now teaches English in Spain. Here she writes about the intersection of language and culture, and lives a life translated by travel.