SPI214 Intro to Translation: Interjections, Expletives, Euphemisms, and Regionalisms

I can't even begin to tell you how many times students have asked me to teach them bad words in class OR how many times students have shared bad words to "learn" what they mean ... really to see my reaction.

Let's get the "teacher" aspect out of the way first...

Interjections and expletives are single words and phrases that are used to express emotional reactions like, fear, excitement, surprise, pain, and anger. Sometimes we use them to add extra force on statements, even though they provide no meaning to sentence. Why are they a problem? Well just like here in the US, many interjections and/or expletives are regionally based... so where Goodnight Louise may be fighting words in one town, it may cause extreme laughter in another. :)

There's so many... I figured we look at this list and discuss it in class.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Spanish_interjections

You didn't think I was going to post "potty mouth" words here... did you? LOL

Euphemisms are softer or gentler words used to replace more offensive or taboo words. 

For example...
mujer pública... "lady of the evening"
daños colaterales... "civilian casualties (collateral damage)
ver a Juan... "going to the bathroom
el corre que te alcanza... "the runs"
aventura amorosa... "affair"

Have you heard some for going to the bathroom? powder my nose, go to the little girl's/boys room, see a man about a horse, go sit on the throne...

Now, how would you translate those into Spanish? Literal translations? Probably not, but now think about if it was the other way around... What if you read? voy a reglar las plants, voy a tirar los niños a la piscina, hablar con un viejo amigo, quitarse un peso...

As I find more, I'll post them here.  If you have some, please share!

Ciao,
MLMoore