Episode 102 • Languages

Pick up (a language)
Brush up on
Rusty
Draw a blank
Look up (a word)
Story
Ricky: Man, I can’t believe we’re in Barcelona. This is so cool!
Brian: I know, right? If only we could speak the language…
Ricky: What are you talking about? My Spanish is great.
Brian: Is it?
Ricky: Of course it is. I took Spanish for two years when I was in high school. In fact, I picked it up really quickly, Miss Gonzales was really proud of me. Anyway, it’s actually really easy to learn.
Brian: I was in Miss Gonzales’s class too but I don’t remember a thing. You still remember what you learned even after all these years?
Ricky: Well, I mean, I brushed up on my Spanish before coming here. I knew I was pretty rusty so I had to find my old Spanish textbooks and after two days, my Spanish was great!
Brian: Really? Okay, cool. Listen let’s just buy what we need so we can go back to the hostel. We’ve got everything we need except for… the avocados. Wait, how do you say avocado in Spanish? I’m drawing a blank right now. One second. Let me look it up.
Ricky: You don’t need to look it up. Avocado is avocado.
Brian: No, it isn’t. It’s something similar but it’s not avocado.
Ricky: Yes, it is. Here, let me ask this lady. Per- Perdona. Necesito un avocado.
Spanish lady: Un abogado?
Ricky: Yes. Si, un avocado.
Spanish lady: Uh. My brother. Abogado.
Ricky: Oh, tu hermano vende avocados?
Spanish lady: Yes, yes, here give me your phone. Dirección. Address.
Ricky: Oh, thank you. Gracias. Okay… This is weird. This does not look like a supermarket. This looks like… A law firm?
Brian: Haha. Yeah, Ricky. I looked it up, avocado is aguacate. Abogado is
Spanish for lawyer.