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Showing posts from April, 2014

How do you say CERUMEN in English?

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Well, there are things that you will never find in any of the standard EFL books, and this is one of those. The word CERUMEN is that greenish brown secretion that appears in our internal ears. The technical word in English is precisely CERUMEN just like in Spanish but unlike Spanish there is a non-technical word for CERUMEN in English that is also more popular and commonly used: EAR WAX.   

What are SUNDRIES in Spanish?

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So many sundries, so little time! SUNDRIES  is a word that refers to several objects at the same time. These objects are usually of small value, and size, which is why they are not mentioned separately but altogether under the label SUNDRIES. You can find SUNDRIES in small stores, drugstores or souvenir shops. The best possible translation I found was MISCELANEOS or OBJETOS DIVERSOS (again too diverse and cheap to be worth mentioned one by one). Those living in Guayaquil can find SUNDRIES in stores such as EL DOLARAZO or basically in any bazaar. SUNDRIES is an remarkable word because as a noun it only exists in plural form. It can be used in singular form (SUNDRY) but then is not a noun but an adjective. In that case SUNDRY means diverse, various, miscellaneous.