YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN....

GERMAN MEASLES BECOMES...

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...GERMAN MISSILES

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Sometime ago I was speaking with an elderly man and he brought up the subject of how many members of his family, during his father’s time in the 1910’s, died of the sarampión.

I had never heard that word before, sarampión.

So I asked him, “Håfa sarampión?”  “What is sarampión?”

And he replied, “German missiles.”

Now, keep in mind he pronounced “missiles” like “missals.”  To rhyme with “whistles,” not “hair styles.”

So, I said, “Ta’lo fan?”  “Say it again, please?”

And he repeated, “German missiles.”

So I just kept wondering, “Why would the German ships come here and fire missiles and kill a whole bunch of people in the 1910s?  The Germans never fired a single shot here in the 1910s.”  But I dropped the subject.

A few days later I bumped into an older lady and asked her, “Håfa sarampión?”

And she said, “German measles.”