In the middle of the 19th century, a relatively unknown author named Pedro Carolino rapidly gained intercontinental popularity over a small Portuguese-to-English phrasebook. English as She Is Spoke (or O novo guia da conversação em portuguez e inglez) was originally intended to help Portuguese speakers dabble in the English tongue, but was penned by a man who spoke little to no English himself. And, instead of helping Portuguese speakers learn a second language, it became a cult classic for…
Source: How a Portuguese-to-English Phrasebook Became a Cult Comedy Sensation | Atlas Obscura
Very interesting article!
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I’ve often heard/used the expression ‘English as she is spoke’ – had no idea it was the title of a book!
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Nor I. It’s good to know!
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It is so fabulous! Google translate does a bit of the same these days. It is gorgeously if unintendedly funny…
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Ian’t it just! Yes, Google is very good at doing the same.
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The ‘Idioms and Proverbs’ had me chuckling a lot. If I had known about these when I was younger, I would undoubtedly have used them all the time!
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Mais naturellement!
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Thanks for the smiles this morning. (K)
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My pleasure, Kerfe!
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Reblogged this on Kate McClelland.
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Ha! That’s hysterical, Sarah.
Sometimes I consider using Google’s translator to do bilingual posts when I’m at http://www.beBee.com (mostly Spanish users there at the moment)… but I’m just not a trusting soul. 😀 Mega hugs.
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And you’re right not to trust it! Hugs.
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This is terrific! I giggled all the way through the article. Discovering this book has made my entire week. Thanks!
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I’m delighted to have made your week!
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