Who’s on First?

As I am trying to learn Spanish, Scott and I have been trying to do a lot of our talking in Spanish. (At least until my brain becomes scrambled, and then we switch to English.) Often, he says something in Spanish and then breaks it down word by word as I translate his statement. If I do not remember the translation or know the word, I usually answer in English: “Which means?” Or “Which means… again?”

So we were in the phone store on Monday, playing our translation game and we had the following conversation:

Scott: “Otra vez” (“Otra vez” in Spanish translates to “again” in English.)

Tonya: “Which means, again?” (I said in English, as I could not remember the translation.)

Scott: “Si, Otra vez” (Not comprehending that I was asking for a translation.)

Tonya: “Which means, again?”

Scott: “Si, Otra vez” (Still not comprehending that I was asking for a translation.)

We went through several iterations of this statement/question loop before we both realized that we had originated a new Abbott and Costello “Who’s on first?” routine.