mjt on Nostr: A tender look at loss: “[I]n Spanish, the accidental reflexive is a subtle way for ...
A tender look at loss:
“[I]n Spanish, the accidental reflexive is a subtle way for speakers to forgive themselves for losing or breaking or forgetting everyday objects: I didn’t lose the car keys; they lost me! In English, I would have had to say ‘I lost my ring,’ a woeful admission. But in Spanish I could say ‘Se me perdió el anillo’—‘The ring lost itself to me’—and blame the ring instead.”
On Losing a Husband, and (Almost) Losing a Wedding Ring https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/on-losing-a-husband-and-almost-losing-a-wedding-ring
“[I]n Spanish, the accidental reflexive is a subtle way for speakers to forgive themselves for losing or breaking or forgetting everyday objects: I didn’t lose the car keys; they lost me! In English, I would have had to say ‘I lost my ring,’ a woeful admission. But in Spanish I could say ‘Se me perdió el anillo’—‘The ring lost itself to me’—and blame the ring instead.”
On Losing a Husband, and (Almost) Losing a Wedding Ring https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/on-losing-a-husband-and-almost-losing-a-wedding-ring