I once worked at a
summer camp, and went caving with a group of kids. We had to crawl under and
around narrow spaces, and there was this one kid behind me, that, in the
friendliest way ever, told me “Beth you are too fat to fit!” Of course, this
could have been a language barrier issue, as I know I am not actually fat. But,
I have noticed that this sort of comment is not completely abnormal. I have
discussed this with other teachers, and most of us have found this to be true.
As a result, Spanish people tend to be a bit less sensitive than Americans
(though, I think almost everyone in the world is less sensitive than Americans).
I find that I love this aspect of Spanish culture, and it makes the people here
more endearing to me. It also makes me more aware of the way language can
affect personalities, and how people from similar nations tend to have similar
sensitivities, many of which I believe stem from language.
Anyway, all of this was going through my head as I was
running the other day, and the word “Spandor”, (a combination of Spanish and Candor)
popped into my head. I sort of smiled to myself and thought about adding it to
Urban Dictionary. A good word for expats in Spain to use to describe this
difference in language, however not one that I believe is necessary in everyday
life. While I wanted to share this moment of word-creation that I had, I want
to clarify that I think we have to be very careful when creating words or ideas
that are related to the way we view different groups of people, whether it be race,
religion, nationality, sexual orientation, etc. I never want to contribute to a
negative view of anyone, as I believe much of the hate in this world comes from
a misunderstanding of cultural, religious, social, (etc.) differences. And
after all, we all came from the same place, and headed in the same direction.
So, until I can find a word that I believe the world is looking
for, enjoy this silly one.
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