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Article: 'Dichos:' wise words, the Spanish way; Even today, proverbs pepper the speech of Spanish speakers - and are being featured in exhibitions and a book.(FEATURES)(WEEKEND)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- December 22, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Teresa M㩮ez Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
SANTA FE, N.M. -- "Camaron que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente," my father used say. I loved the sweet, lyrical humor of the literal translation ("The shrimp that falls asleep is swept away by the current") and the way it contrasted with the more abrupt English equivalent ("You snooze, you lose"). As I grew older, there were more phrases like this one as my father and my Mexican grandmother passed along pieces of cultural wisdom.
Pithy words to live by - every culture has them. In English we call them proverbs. In Spanish, they're known as dichos. Serious and sly, didactic and ...