Hola from Mexico

I'm in San Jose del Cabo this week to preview some vacation homes for a client.

I love Mexico, especially now that I’m somewhat comfortable with Spanish. It’s tough not knowing the language. I remember a few years ago having a gastric attack in a rented van on the way to Todos Santos with my brothers (con mis hermanos). I needed some antacid. We stopped in a tiny village way up in the mountains. The only market was hardly larger than your living room. I walked up to the counter, thought “Do you speak English?” but said “Habla Espanol”? The look on the face of the schoolgirl

behind the counter was worth all the discomfort. “Si,” she said proudly. And when I realized what I had just asked, both of us started laughing (but it hurt). Never did find the antacid, though.

For instance: last week I got a note from Katy. “Hey Paul--too many people who should know better (Realtors themselves, for instance) say reel-a-tor. What's so hard about the "l +t" consonant cluster? Have they never been undecided about something and said, "I feel torn"? I suspect these same people also say reel-a-ty instead of realty.”

Excellent complaint, Katy! I agree with you whole-heartedly. The word Realtor is pronounced "reel - tor". And, of course, realty is said "reel-ty". This reminds me of a story an attorney told me one evening over a beer. The typist of the brief he had submitted confused the words relator (correct) and Realtor (incorrect in this case) so that one of the parties to the case magically became someone who sells real property versus someone relating a claim!

By the way, realty and Realtor come from, as suggested above, real, as in real property and real estate. Real has been used in that sense since the 17th century. Real comes from Latin res "thing". Until I became a Realtor, I had mistakenly thought that real estate was royal estate, as in camino real—the king’s highway.

Have any questions or pet peeves? Write me and I’ll track down the answers for you.