Snapshot of a sign that reads, “Passenger’s Dock” at the entrance of a recently renovated wharf of Panama City’s seafood market. This is where the fishing boats moor to unload their fresh catch for the consumption of the metropolis. It has an amazing architectural design. Stay tuned. There are more pictures in the works. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Language is such fun! When I saw the sign, the first English word that came to mind was “mullet”. In fact, our word for that fish comes from the Greek myllos, or a marine fish. I’ll bet you anything the English “Mullet” and Spanish “Muelle” are related!
Morning Linda:
I understand that a river or maritime wharf comes from the Catalan “moll” which has a Latin origin “mole”; meaning weight or load. It also means dock, jetty, pier or dock.
I agree, languages are fun for curious people who love linguistics. Thank you for showing me the way to walk within the maze of languages; specially the English language.
P.S. It’s raining very hard outside with heavy gusts of wind. Today is going to be a damp day with sullen skies.
Regards,
Omar.-
When I was offered the job that would take me to France where I didn’t speak the language one of the first things I did was hit the book stores for a compact English/French dictionary. I bought a small “Harraps” that had plastic covers so I could carry it around with me everywhere in my pocket without worrying about the covers coming off. I still have that book 23 years later.
But the BEST thing I bought was a wonderful volume called “Signposts”
Signposts: French
It’s a thin volume filled with photos of the signs one will encounter when they’re in France: shopping, driving, sightseeing, banking, finding accommodations, using public transportation. Each section has a little test at the end. NOTHING helped me more than this book and eased my transition into a new country,
Hi Richard:
What an ingenious way to help people in a foreign country. I’ll be taking more pictures of our signs in Panama City; maybe it might help somebody visiting the country.
Regards,
Omar.-