DOH!!

OK, something really funny happened at work, one of those "Doh!" moments.

In class we are coloring turkeys with drawings of things or people we're thankful for. I was going around writing at the top of the paper "I am thankful for (what they drew)." This one girl is really shy and doesn't like to talk sometimes. She had drawn a girl. I asked her who this girl was...mom, sister, aunt, doll? She wouldn't say. Finally her classmate sitting next to her said that it was her mom and that she didn't want to say because "le da pena" which means 'it gives her shame'.

Sidenote: My Spanish is not perfect in any sense of the word. I often put the wrong ending without thinking, correct it, and keep going...usually not even noticing the mistake. For instance, I might say "banca" = bench, when I meant "banco" = bank. Well this happened to me in this instance...

I asked, "¿Por qué le da pene, pena?" (See? I made that correction.) I get a really weird look from the little girl that told me she drew her mom. I take a second to think about the question I had just asked. "Why did it give you shame?" Then I remember that I had made a mistake. I try to recall the word I had accidentally said. And it hits me! What I had actually asked this timid little girl was...."Why does it give you penis, shame?"...DOH!