raferguson
May 16, 2005, 2:14 PM
Post #2 of 3
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The reflexive form of verbs is much more common in Spanish than in English. It is not just "se rompió", but reflexive verbs in many other places, such as "se fue", "ducharse", "despertarse", "despedirse", etc. In these other cases, the explanation about people being servents of hard masters is not relevant. The people telling the story about people trying to avoid being blamed are saying more about themselves than offering a real explanation.
However, I do remember a US businessman, who spoke some Spanish, being very annoyed about "se quebro", when one of his Mexican employees broke something, and he took it as trying to avoid blame. But I think that even he knew that this is really a grammar issue more than a cultural difference.
Of course, as in any situation in any language, it is more convenient to say that something bad happened without admitting that it was your fault, and if the grammar makes it easier to say that, so much the better for the guilty party. But you don't need a story from 200 years ago to explain why people like to avoid admitting guilt. Common sense and human nature explain that.
Richard
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
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