Those who follow me on other social media will have noticed that I sometimes make a request of those reading nearby, and that I often close those requests with “Spanish Aunts!” or “Abundant Spanish Aunts!” or “Many Spanish Aunts!” or — well. You get the idea.
For some reason, this pleasantry confuses people. Questions arise as to its meaning; I answer the questions, and the next time I employ the phrase questions arise again.
I estimate we’ve passed through at least eighty-five iterations of “But, Spanish Aunts? Why are you talking about Spanish Aunts?” and I’m getting tired of typing out an explanation each time.
The way I figure it, I have two options: (1) stop using “Spanish Aunts,” which, let’s face it, isn’t likely, given the collaboration between my brain and my fingers and my so-called sense of humor — or (2) make a permanent page explaining Spanish Aunts to the world, that I can link to the next time someone wants to know what Spanish Aunts has to do with it.
I have decided upon Option 2.
Herewith the explanation of “Spanish Aunts.”
Way, way, way back before the rocks cooled, I was a member of what the Romance writers of the day called a “loop,” which was what other folks called an email list, or a “listserv”. Among the loop’s self-selected abbreviations (like, yanno, F(or) Y(our) I(nformation), or T(he) M(oment) W(hen), or S(hake) M(y) H(ead) was TIA = T(hanks) I(n) A(dvance).
And along about sometime, a bright young thing realized that “Tia” is “Aunt” in Spanish, and began using “Spanish Aunts” in place of “TIA.” It caught on with the denizens of the loop, and there you are.
I liked it. Though the loop is long gone, I still use “Spanish Aunts.” I occasionally break into Cheezburger Speech, too, by way of fair warning.
I guess I could save myself a lot of repetition by simply not using “Spanish Aunts” anymore, but I feel my life would be poorer for its lack. OTOH, it seems that I confuse more people than I amuse. And! On the third hand —
*SPLORT*