April 10, 2008

Some Puerto Rican Old-School Humor

I found this video a while ago but I've decided to share it now.



Here's a transcription and a translation:

Iris: ¡Ay bendito se le paró el carro! ¿Y eso cómo fue?
Hombre: ¡No sé! Yo le había echado coolant, pero se calentó.
I: Mira, lo voy a ayudar, porque yo tengo un tremendo coolant... Amelie. La proxima vez échale Amelie. Este sí es un coolant de calidad superior. Porque... todos los coolants no son iguales, ¿sabes? Amelie es mejor de lo que tiene que ser.
H: Ah pero oiga, ¿Usted no es Iris Chacón?
I: Sí-í-í... Y de coolant, yo sí sé. Exiga Amelie -- tremendo coolant.

Iris: Oh you poor thing, your car stopped! How did that happen?
Man: I don't know! I gave it coolant but it got hot anyways.
I: Look, I'm gonna help you, because I have this tremendous coolant... Amelie. Next time give it Amelie. This really is a superior quality coolant. Since not all coolants are the same, you know? Amelie is better than it has to be.
M: Oh... hey, aren't you Iris Chacón?
I: Yep! And I know coolant. Ask forAmelie -- tremendous coolant.

Notes:
  • This is a good video for practicing Spanish. They're speaking pretty clearly, the video is short, and it's funny.
  • Iris Chacón is a very famous actress in Puerto Rico who had her own variety show there for about 15 years. David Letterman calls her the "Dolly Parton of Puerto Rico" and even though I hate both Dolly Parton and analogies (and to a lesser degree David Letterman) I'm inclined to agree. A lot of her act involved showing her butt, as seen in the commercial here.
  • The joke going on here, for those perhaps less in touch with their Spanish curse words, is that the pronunciation of "coolant" sounds an awful lot like "culo" (ass). So at first it seems as if she is saying "I have a tremendous ass", which, all things considered, isn't too far from the truth. Anyways, it's simply a clever play on words, and it works very well. Too bad Amelie doesn't exist anymore; well, it might, but it failed the Google test.

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