¡Ya lo hagas! Just do it already!
I have not been amazed to discover that by setting myself this weekly blogging challenge I have actually brought my blog to a near standstill. Oh dear, has my life as an expat mum in Spain become so unstructured that I cannot cope with one regular weekly task? Please don’t answer that…
Yet, here I am sneaking in at the end of the week with my contribution and a bunch of excuses. You see Bibs and I have spent this week doing glorious, summery things with friends that have left us kinda ‘beach tired’. Here we are in the photo on the left enjoying a balanced meal somewhere glamorous on the Costa Del Sol. Lack of time and inclination to blog has been compounded by some extremely tiresome technical issues that I have been working around for the last few weeks.
My MacBook is on its last legs it would seem. It can no longer hold any charge and needs a daily reminder of the year and current Prime Minister. As a result I have been blackballed by all my usual online haunts like Gmail, Tweetdeck, Picmonkey (argh!)… and, most frustratingly of all, Disqus which has meant that I couldn’t even answer comments on my blog.
Funnily enough Facebook was less fussy. Not wanting to miss out on a moment of my exciting life, or the opportunity to waft pretty, and unlikely high-heeled wedges under my nose, Facebook made a little exception for my amnesiac computer. Go figure.
Anyway, I have found an annoying little work-around and am back online with the whole of the internet at my finger tips. And so at the end of a busily brilliant week I am going to chuck my 7 words at y’all and then run away in manner of child playing ‘knock down ginger’.
This week, for my linguistic improvement, I present one word seven times. It’s a little word that seems to add a lot and I should really get to grips with it. The word is Ya.
1. ¿Ya has terminado? Have you finished already?
I don’t even know how many times every day I have to ask Bibsey this question. We are either loitering on the potty or prevaricating over breakfast, lunch, tea and teeth brushing. She did her first poo on the pot today by the way *the whole stadium stands and cheers*
2. ¡Ya voy! I’m coming (now)! Also Bueno, ya me voy Right, I’m off (now).
Two useful little phrases, non? The first might be useful to shout when scrabbling about to make oneself respectable when someone is knocking on the door. Our house doesn’t quite work like that though. We have a covered patio which is like an extra room in the summer and the door is rarely closed. If the postman, for example, got close enough to knock on our door, he would pretty much already be inside and addressing me, respectable or not, as he found me. I might also start using ¡Ya voy! on Bibsey to keep her in a holding pattern when she needs me but I am busy blogging. This is 21st Century parenting at its best folks.
3. Ya no salimos juntos. We don’t go out together anymore.
Yup, there are lots of things that we no longer do since getting knocked-up. I’m leaving it there. But since we are on the subject…
4. Ya que dando a luz… Since giving birth…
… amongst many many other things my bum is not what it used to be.
5. Ya te llamaré. I’ll call you sometime.
Sounds a bit vague doesn’t it? An unspecified point in time in the future. So very, very up my street as a statement. Suspect that I will be sticking ya at the front of all my statements of intent from now on.
6. ¡Ya lo sé! I know (with emphasis)
I like this. It sounds like a good linguistic gossiping tool and also puts me in mind of Monica from Friends. Because she did didn’t she? She knew.
7. ¡Ya está! That’s it folks
I already use this one when talking to the nice fruit and veg man to let him know that I have finished my order. And I also rather fancy it as a way to end blog posts…
I know that this is a far from exhaustive list so any additional uses of ya would be most welcome. Are there any other little words out there that add value to your sentences? What little word could you not live without? I can think of a few choice ones…
