02 April 2010

lost in translation, or translated much too literally

(A funny exchange with a work friend who's a native Spanish speaker)
In the break room, first thing this morning...
sometimes my co-worker's daughter rides in early with her dad, hangs out in the break room and reads for awhile, and then walks to her school nearby. She's usually already gone by the time I make it to the break room for my first cup of coffee (at work), but as I walked in there this morning, her things are on the table where she'd been studying and her dad is pacing around impatiently. He finally asks a female co-worker to go check on her in the ladies room. As I'm filling up my coffee cup, I make small talk, "is she running late? [for school]"
Without missing a beat, he answers, "No, she's bleeding."
My whole day was instantly filled with way too much information...