vino

Question

Pity my poor friends. Although most of them speak little Spanish (EVERYONE in California knows at least a very little), they are constantly subjected to hearing it from me. I guess I'm frustrated by not having anyone to speak Spanish to (boo hoo).

At a party last weekend, we were drinking some wine that my wife and I had provided, but the bottle was missing its label. Someone asked me, "Where did this wine come from'" Since I didn't know, I replied "No sé, pero vino de las uvas." I thought this (the play on the double meaning of vino) quite clever on my part, but of course it fell on deaf ears.

So, my question is, would this be even remotely clever or funny to someone who spoke Spanish? Humor is the final frontier of language acquisition, and I have learned from painful experience that I am usually not very funny or clever in foreign languages, but I'm hoping for a positive answer here.

Answer 1

actually, it's only 37%, I just looked it up

casper said:

hmm...i don't know where you are in California, but everywhere I go, from San Diego, LA, to San Jose; it seems like everybody speaks Spanish....on buses....in supermarkets, my university, DMV...I feel like I am living in Mexico sometimes. If I am not wrong, half of California population is hispanic-origin.

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Answer 2

hmm...i don't know where you are in California, but everywhere I go, from San Diego, LA, to San Jose; it seems like everybody speaks Spanish....on buses....in supermarkets, my university, DMV...I feel like I am living in Mexico sometimes. If I am not wrong, half of California population is hispanic-origin.

Answer 3

This one is a little bit better,
the quedaras en al calle si insistes con tus chistes.
you'll end up in the street if you continue with the jokes.
or you'll end up homeless telling jokes.

as long as the wine is free , I'll laugh at your jokes.

James Santiago said:

Thanks, Gus. Those sound good.

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Answer 4

Thanks, Gus. Those sound good.

Answer 5

si no mejoras tus chistes te moriras de hambre or dont quit your day job
Translation : improve your jokes or you' ll starve. (asi que ) no abandones tu carrera.

Answer 6

I knew how to translate it, but I don't see any replies in the thread you mention that tell us what a Spanish speaker would actually say in such a situation. That is, "Don't quit your day job" is a common phrase in English, but it's a joke, and as such it probably won't translate well. I would bet that a translation wouldn't be understood completely by someone unfamiliar with the English phrase.

Answer 7

James Santiago said:

Ah, well, I won't quit my day job. (And I have no idea how to say THAT in Spanish.)

I tried to figure that out a little while ago too... this is what we got: [url=http://my.spanishdict.com/forum/topic/show'id=1710195%3ATopic%3A861690&page=2&commentId=1710195%3AComment%3A877628&x=1#1710195Comment877628]http://my.spanishdict.com/forum/topic/show'id=1710195%3ATopic%3A861...[/url]

Answer 8

I thought it was funny, at least Good humor is as good wine, subtle and a little dry.

Answer 9

lazarus1907 said:

My guess it that they didn't get it. Instead, they probably understood "I don't know, but (it is) wine of grapes", ignoring the pun altogether. Had it been "...pero vino de las uvas" would probably have triggered some reaction, I guess, because you can't say "viene de uvas" or "vino de uvas", but "viene de las uvas" and "vino de las uvas". I can't think of a funny way of playing with the double meaning of "vino", but I don't think it is easy anyway.

They didn't get it because they speak only minimal Spanish (that's why I said to pity them, because I speak to them in a language they don't understand).

As for "las," that was a typo, or brain freeze, as I did say it and meant to type it (I've fixed it above).

I take it from your comment that my little joke would have been met with stony silence (or rolling eyes) even if my audience had understood Spanish. {sigh}

Ah, well, I won't quit my day job. (And I have no idea how to say THAT in Spanish.)

Answer 10

My guess it that they didn't get it. Instead, they probably understood "I don't know, but (it is) wine of grapes", ignoring the pun altogether. Had it been "...pero vino de las uvas" would probably have triggered some reaction, I guess, because you can't say "viene de uvas" or "vino de uvas", but "viene de las uvas" and "vino de las uvas". I can't think of a funny way of playing with the double meaning of "vino", but I don't think it is easy anyway.