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Your say - Lost for words 3l126w

Very safe wood 413d50

I live in Menorca and every spring, when the British owners come out to do some work on their properties here, you can expect to hear someone in the local DIY shop ask for un preservativo para madera, which causes both laughter and some embarrassment. They think they are requesting wood preservative, but they are actually asking for a condom for wood!

Editor's note: If it's condoms you're after, un preservativo is what you should ask for, but use un producto protector para madera for wood preservative.

Sent by: Tony

Comments 682840

Anthony Goodwin 2006-02-14

After meeting a Spanish girl with limited English in a pub one evening, I was lucky enough to spend the night with her at my house. In the morning I made coffee and toast for breakfast and was feeling very proud of myself. As she ate her toast, she looked at me very seriously and said in Spanish that she didn't like preservativos. I had never heard the word before, but assumed that she must be talking about the jam, and told her not to worry. She looked at me very strangely when I said that butter was a good alternative, and it was a few minutes before the penny dropped and I realised that preservativos actually means 'condoms'.

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