Adults Only

In Spanish and Portuguese ( as in all languages I imagine) there are multiple ways to say many words. Because the two languages are similar, I often rely on my Spanish vocabulary to help me communicate in Portuguese, and frequently it works. One way to say “battery” in Spanish (or at least Dominican Spanish) is “pila” (pronounced peel-uh). So that’s the word I’ve been using in Portuguese, and it seemed to be getting the point across, but after happening upon the word in the dictionary today, I doubt I will have occasion to say it again…

Although it could be continental Portuguese, my dictionary informs me that “pila” is a colloquial term for a man’s genitalia, and consequently what ‘Richard’s’ family might call him. As noted above, it’s likely that this word has other meanings as well, but that didn’t quell the panicky feeling in my stomach as I thought back on the multiple occasions on which I have used this word.

A hunt for the word “battery” reveals a one letter difference: “pilha” (pronounced peel-yah). This alongside the much safer “bateria”, which also exists in Spanish, but which as luck would have it I opted against, preferring the secretly erotic “pila”. Apparently the difference was slight enough that no one felt the need to correct me, but the snickers I thought I noticed when I used the word make much more sense now. Consider the following…

Does it have batteries?
What aren’t the batteries working?
Did the batteries die?
Maybe the batteries are old.
Maybe it needs new batteries.

I would snicker too! And if I was bored enough, probably neglect to correct the silly foreign offender. But just to be on the safe side, I’ll be sure to ask next time where I can buy “baterias”.