Amigos Falsos in Spanish

But when I first started learning Spanish what gave me a lot of trouble were the amigos that were both “falsos” and “verdaderos” (real, sincere).

Let me explain. Sometimes you will come across a word in Spanish that is both:

1. A word that sounds similar to an English word that has the same meaning

2. A word that sounds similar to an English word that has a DIFFERENT meaning

How is that possible? As in English, there are Spanish words that have more than one meaning.

I was reminded of this today when reading a friend’s learning-Spanish blog on the Net. She is from Argentina and she wrote that in Argentina a “mesero” (waiter) will say the following phrase:

¿Puedo levantar (los platos)?
Can I raise/lift (the plates)?

Or

¿Puedo retirar (los platos)?
Can I remove (the plates)?

Actually, she used the word “mozo” which is apparently the Spanish word that they use for “waiter” in Argentina – instead of the word “mesero” that they use in many parts of Latin America – or “camarero” which they use in Spain.

By the way, in Colombia depending on the age of the waiter/waitress, people will say señor/señora or muchacho/niña instead of “mesero/a.”

My friend’s blog post reminded me of when I made my very first trip to Colombia in 2005. I had just finished having dinner in a restaurant and the waiter asked me:

¿Puedo retirar?

In Colombia (or at least in Medellín, Colombia), they never say the phrase ¿Puedo levantar (los platos)?

After the “mesero” asked me “¿Puedo retirar?” I remember thinking “this guy is so young. And why is he asking me this question. Do I look like his boss?”

Well, “retirar” or “retirarse” can mean “to retire.” In other words, “retirar” can mean “abandonar un trabajo, una competición, una empresa.”

Actually, the word for retire that I hear people use in Colombia is “jubilar.”

Me jubilaron de la empresa porque ya cumplí treinta años de laborar ahí.

(They retired me from the company because I now completed 30 years of work there.)

But the most common definition for “retirar” is “to remove” as in:

¿Puedo retirar (los platos)?

So the point that I am making is that you should always keep in mind that you will hear words in Spanish that are both:

1. Words that sound similar to English words with the same meanings.

2. Words that sounds similar to English words with DIFFERENT meanings