“… It was one of a set of such phrases, all with the sense of knowing one’s stuff, or being highly knowledgeable in a particular field, that circulated in the 1920s. Others were to know one’s oats , to know one’s oil , to know one’s apples , to know one’s eggs , and even to know one’s sweet potatoes (which appeared in a cartoon by T A Dorgan in 1928). You may notice certain similarities between the substances mentioned, most being foods and most having names that start with a vowel.”
This is an absolute favorite regarding champagne, but too good not to post. A little long, but I used to have it memorized. Too much in my brain now.
From Lily Bollinger:
“I drink,champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it when I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it - - unless I’m thirsty.”
I stayed in Loreto 10 days in Feb, went to this restaurant every day just for their perfectly steamed clams (amejas chocolatas), seafood tacos and aguachile. Can’t wait to return!
I copied the Portuguese saying and read it aloud to a local Portuguese fish seller at our local supermarket.
While she knew the saying and agrees with the sentiment, she was highly amused at my horrible pronunciation.
You are brave Portuguese can be difficult to pronounce. But if one knows Spanish I think it’s half as hard. You could also try speaking French to Portuguese. French is their second language, not Spanish.
The two of us usually speak Italian with each other, sometimes German. I can get by in Spanish, but the standard Spanish pronunciation is very easy to learn. Unfortunately I never learned French.
I forgot Italian. Portuguese are multilingual. It’s easy for them to learn French, Spanish and Italian.
There were 2 young couples on 1 of my whale watching tours, all Swiss. They were talking with each other in English. One girl said her French is rubbish, couldn’t learn it. The other said her German was rubbish. Same reason.
I’ve come across Swiss in my travels and noticed they are all multilingual. Switching between 4 languages seamlessly as if they are their mother tongue. I was impressed.
How I know when someone is Swiss… when they speak Swiss German. Because I only understand about 2 words. They can speak standard German on the news and public announcements at train stations. I can understand that. But when speaking amongst themselves I don’t understand much and find it interesting (in a good way).
Next time ask the Portuguese where you could buy “presunto”. (Pronounced something like “pree-zuun-too”)
Believe me, @Presunto, I know plenty of Swiss who can only speak one language. And for years Italian has been the lingua franca for “Guest workers,” Gastarbeiter, foreigners who come to work in Switzerland. It was in the sixties, I believe, that large numbers of under-employed Italians from the south of the country migrated to Switzerland.
Italian is not quite as prevalent these days, but it is still quite common. A new building is going up just across the street from us. If we open the window, we hear them yelling at each other. They are not yelling in anger, but since there are only 6 or 7 of them, they have to yell to communicate when they’re not working right next to each other.
This is interesting to me. Before the Swiss I met on the whale tour I was under the impression Swiss were multilingual (speaking German and French at the least, and French, Spanish and Italian as well). Those I came across before the Mexico trip were proof of that.
German Swiss take 6 years of French in school. French Swiss take 6 years of German in school. When they have to communicate with each other, they often choose English. Most of the young people know English from films, music, internet, but there are some that don’t. But, as you have observed, many are multilingual.
You are brave 
Portuguese can be difficult to pronounce. But if one knows Spanish I think it’s half as hard. You could also try speaking French to Portuguese. French is their second language, not Spanish.
