Chile's New President's "Marepoto" & "TuSunami"

Since we moved into the new apartment, we haven't really been watching much TV. This is because 1. thanks to the fact that the TV is no longer in the bedroom, but is in the computer room and 2. we no longer have free cable and only get the local channels via the antenna. Anyway, not having watched much TV since the move means that we missed BOTH of Sebastian Piñera's (Chile's new President) major goof ups when talking about the earthquake and tsunami. We heard about it through a friend who is a big Piñera fan, which only made the situation even more hilarious.

Now, please just consider the fact that this man went to Harvard and is now the President. And not only that, he is the first right-winged President that Chile has had in over 20 years! How the heck he screwed up TWICE when talking about the situations is beyond me. I think most people are chalking it up to being stressed out for having taken office just days after one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded. In any case it is just down right, laughing-on-the-floor-peeing-your-pants funny.....that is, if you speak "Chilean" Spanish.

Ok, so here goes Goof Up #1--watch this video and then read below for my explanation.

First of all, instead of saying "maremoto" which is a sea quake or tidal wave, he said "marePOTO". Here is where you need to know Chilean slang. "Poto" means butt, but as referring to it in a scientific sense, instead it is more of a "Damn that girl's got some a$@" that is sung about in hip hop songs. So the fact that the President--of all people--not only mispronounced a word (which is understandable when the word is something similar to what you meant to say), but that he changed the end of the word to "A$@" in Chilean slang just cracks me up. Everyone makes mistakes when speaking, but this is an invented word--it doesn't even exist! And not only that, he didn't even stop to correct himself. Really, Sr. Piñera--what the heck were you thinking about while you were giving this speech?!?!?!!

Goof Up #2--I couldn't find a legitimate video that just include the goof up and not some remix of it, so I'll explain it first and show you the video next. We all know that tsunami is spelled with a "t" at the beginning, but that the "t" is actually silent when pronouncing the word. I am pretty sure this is something that you learn in grade school. Anyway, Piñera decided it should be pronounced a new way "TuSunami". Yes, he pronounced the "t" and even added an invisible "u" to the word. I am not sure if he was reading those cue cards and just read wrong, or maybe it was spelled wrong, but again...hilarious. Here is a video that we could not stop laughing at. Why the Star Wars people are included, I have no idea...but you cannot help but laugh.

And just for the heck of it....a nice remix showing the more fitting situation of the word "marepoto"--in a reggeaton song: