My late father-in-law used to speak Catalan reverse slang, which he had originally devised with his best mate, as a young man, so that la grossa (la sogra, the mother-in-law) would not understand them. (This was even funnier in a politically incorrect era because gros/grossa also means large or fat.)
Decades later, Avi (grandad, to the [...]

“ ¿A cuanto están?” I ask the younger of the two women standing behind a row of upturned crates piled with higos chumbo (prickly pears).
“MaMAAA,” she asks mama, even though they’ve been selling the things all morning, “¿A cuanto están?”
“Tres euros la cena,” replies mother in her gardening gloves as she expertly slices off the [...]

I’ve been in Spain as long as The Simpsons have been on air (1989). And for me, despite their utter American-ness, they remain utterly Spanish. The first time I heard the ‘real’ Homer’s voice I was horrified. Lisa and Marge sound amazingly similar in both languages, but somehow Homer is cuter in castellano, Moe even [...]

The Spanish are hugely fond of metaphorically defecating in and on all kinds of unsuitable surfaces and recipients. The least alarming is the sea. Me cago en la mar, I shit in the sea. Or for those of more gentile disposition, me cachis en la mar, or even just me cachis ….  I euphemistically shit [...]

Valerie and Theresa on Andreu Buenafuente’s show on La Sexta (Spanish TV Channel 6) on 4 February.