The time has come, my friends! If you’ve been patiently waiting for your bimonthly memes, fear not: they have arrived.
Trying to learn Spanish? Humor is as good as anything else. And plus, now when you speak Spanish you can be funny! I don’t know about you, but that’s top motivation for me personally.
Enjoy!
Meme translation: “Finally, a little peace.”
“Mars is flat.”
What does it meme? Think you can head to Mars for a bit of reprieve from the silliness? Think again.
If you ask me, the internet generally and social media specifically are at fault for all these stupid ideas floating around. Think about it: before, if you wanted to publish something, you had to get it approved by some sort of publication or publishing house. Nowadays, if you’re good at convincing people that you’re knowledgeable and you have an internet connection, the sky is pretty much the limit!
Meme translation: “Objective: go running in the mornings.
Obstacle: running is for cowards.”
What does it meme? Why yes, that is quite the predicament. What to do, what to do?
I think we all know the answer to this one. It’s to show your bravery by sleeping in and then scrolling your social media feeds in bed until you have to get up to pee… right?
Meme translation: “If you can’t help, get in the way. The important thing is that you’re seen participating.”
What does it meme? It does seem that lots of people take this advice, doesn’t it? And who can blame them? Sometimes, if you want to keep your job, you just need to look busy.
So get in there, champ, and stand around, preferably near where something’s getting done.
Meme translation: “Only God and the all-seeing neighbor in front can judge me.”
What does it meme? I don’t know if you heard, but Mexicans have a certain reputation for being ”chismosos” — “gossipy. Actually, I’m sure you’ve heard.
If you know how people are, you might as well have a sense of humor about it. And if you’re really feeling expansive, don’t hold back – put on a good show!
Meme translation: “Don’t forget: use the market and capital to satisfy the people.
Capitalists: ‘Use the people and the market to satisfy capital, got it.’”
What does it meme? Sigh. This almost seems like not a joke, right? No wonder “evil” and “capitalist” are so often used in the same sentence.
When I see particularly egregious examples — and there are a lot of them — I often think to myself: what do people think the purpose of capitalism is?
Surely we wouldn’t have all agreed to it if we thought it would lead to, literally, working lots and lots of people to the bone to produce a handful of Elon Musks.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
I have a couple of “chistes” that my friend Pancho Pemex, as he was affectionately known around San Miguel de Allende, used to use in bars and restaurants when ordering drinks. BTW, he quit drinking late in life after a few close calls with the grim reaper. In fact, my wife and I met him in Manzanillo after a night listening to him, over a hotel balcony wall, being given Extreme Unction by a priest as he lay dying. He obviously beat the reaper and went on to brighten the lives of his friends for many more years in San Miguel and elsewhere in Mexico. He had two drinks he would order: one was a “coctel de Monterrey”, requested with hand on elbow (the sign for a cheapskate for which Monterreyans are I guess, known) which was glass of ice water. The other was his favorite drink which was an “aqua negra de los imperialistes yanquis”, a Coca-Cola. Both of these would invariably crack up the waiter(s).
haha I’ve heard the Coke one, but not the Monterrey cocktail!