A woman whose mother is a native Spanish speaker learning English was bothered when her daughter used the phrase “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” taking offense at the idea that her daughter was calling her a dog. She might instead have used “A leopard can’t change its spots,” or “As the twig is bent, so inclines the tree,” and from Latin, “Senex psittacus negligit ferulam,” or “An old parrot doesn’t mind the stick.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Alternatives to Old Dog”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, this is Ana E. I’m calling from the San Diego area.
Welcome to A Way with Words.
Yeah, what can we do for you?
Well, it’s actually something that will get me out of trouble. I grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, and so idioms in English always really got away from me. And I remember once I was having this conversation with my mother in Spanish, and she has a temper and she has her ways and whatnot. And I remember telling her, Mom, you know, you should really try not to do that anymore or you should try to maybe say things a little bit differently or in a different tone. And she just kind of laughed and said, well, and said it in Spanish. Well, you know, an old tree does not grow straight anymore. And it gets a little bit lost in translation and it makes sense. But when I said it to her in English and not directly at her, but I said, oh, mom, I guess it’s true. You know, an old dog can’t learn new tricks or things like that. She gave me the look of death and pretty much said, I can’t believe you said that. And I kind of tried explaining to her that it’s not that offensive in English. But she just kind of got a little bit upset with me. And I was wondering if there’s a way to say something similar in English without it sounding so offensive.
Was it the dog part she didn’t like? She didn’t like being connected to a dog like that? What was it?
She doesn’t really understand English that much, but she knows what that means. But she didn’t like being connected to a dog that way. Because in Spanish, when you translate it, it becomes a feminine word. So it sounded like I was calling her something else.
Oh, I see. Okay. Never mind.
Oh, dear. So, yeah, that would be a problem, right?
Right, right. And I said, no, that’s not what I meant. But the harm had been done. Luckily, she got over it, and I explained it to her. But, yeah, some people do get offended when I say certain things in English, and vice versa, when I translate certain idioms from English to Spanish and Spanish to English.
Oh, that’s so interesting. So you had to explain to her that it’s pretty much a benign expression in English. Can’t teach a dog new tricks.
Right.
And the only equivalent that I can think of in Spanish has to do with a tree that’s twisted, never straightening out or something to that effect, right?
Right, right.
Yeah, yeah. We do have in English the expression that goes as the twig is bent so the tree grows. But I would say it’s far less common that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
There’s another Spanish saying that I want to see if you know. I don’t know where in the Spanish-speaking world it’s spoken, but pardon my Spanish, which is not that great. El oro viejo no aprende a hablar. The old parrot doesn’t learn how to speak. Do you know that one?
I haven’t heard it, no. But it does make sense. And there’s some really ancient ones, too. And actually, one of them, I believe, goes back to Latin, which says an old parrot doesn’t mind the stick. And what they mean by that is that if you, another version of the old parrot doesn’t pay attention to the strokes of correction, meaning which you, if you hit a parrot to get it to behave and to do the thing you want it to do, an old parrot doesn’t pay attention to you because it’s set in its ways.
Right, right.
Yeah, well, it’s sort of, I mean, you could take it all the way back to the Bible and the book of Jeremiah, where they talk about can a leopard change its spots?
Right, I’ve heard that one. That might be a really good one to use. And I actually looked a few things up, and my mom loves leopards. When I heard that one, I said, oh, Mom, listen, I found this one that I might use on you now.
So eventually she understood about the dog then.
She did, but you should have seen the look on her face. I thought I was not going to leave that room alive.
Yeah.
Well, good. We’re glad you got it straightened out. Anna, thank you so much.
Well, thank you so much.
Thank you.
Yeah, thanks for sharing that story.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
You know, we could have given Anna a word for somebody who learned something late in life.
Oh, yeah, what’s that?
Opsimath.
Oh, Opsimath. I don’t know that.
O-P-S-I-M-A-T-H.
That’s a cool word, Opsimath.
Yeah.
We welcome calls from everybody. Opsimath’s included. 877-929-9673.
