Dum spiro spero

Few years ago, I was working in a cosy healthcare setting in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire. One day, in our lunch break, I got a call from my mum. Before to pick up the phone call, I managed to briefly explain to my colleagues that, since my mum doesn’t know English, I will speak with her in Romanian. ‘No problem’ was their answer. And indeed, it wasn’t any problem for about 10 minutes, until one of them shouted to me: ‘Simona, please stop swearing!’

I was shocked, of course. And kindly explained to my mate that I am speaking with mum, and my culture doesn’t allow me to speak vulgar or inappropriate with her.

‘Seriously?’ my colleague sarcastically added. ‘What about your too many F words?’

Oh, nooo! Then I realised that my Romanian ‘fac bine’, ‘fac cum pot’, ‘fac mancare’, turned to be weird. (‘Fac bine’ means I am fine/ I am doing well. ‘Fac cum pot’ means I do whatever I can. ‘Fac mancare’ means I cook.) So, I ended up the call with my mum and started to give a short presentation on how Romanian ‘Fac’ means only good stuff.

My colleague reflected for a while then said: ‘My Romanian neighbours are not popular at all. I understand now that it is nothing related to the cursing vibe.’

Furthermore, that afternoon the whole company found out the ‘cheeky’ Romanian word that caused me a little trouble.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay