Tag Archives: shit my father says

Shit My Father Used to Say When He Was Alive

I’d gotten back from Spain and was really fascinated by this one whacky thing I’d discovered.  You know what they call beans in Spain?  It ain’t habichuelas.  It’s not frijoles either.

It’s judías:  Jewish females! No shit. Green beans are judías verdes, which could be translated as green Jewish women. I discovered this fact on a train ride from Madrid to Barcelona, where I made the young woman behind the counter in the snack car show me a packet because I couldn’t quite believe the menu.

So vacation over, I stopped by to see my folks and mentioned it to my father.

“Isn’t that weird,” I said.  “I mean where does that come from?”

“You know, he said, “They’ve been a second rate country ever since they kicked us out.”