Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a Mehicano construction worker than the site if a gringo home owner approaching him with his Spanish/English phrase book. “How much should I pay you?” comes out as “I want to punch you”, an honest mistake given that the verb for ‘pay’ and ‘punch’ are coincidentally very similar. Also the word for married (casado) and tired (cansado). Maybe that’s why “I am married” is not the ‘permanent’ form “Soy casado”, but the ‘impermanent’ form “Estoy casado”. Go around telling people you are ‘tired’ when asked if you are married and the response will soon be “Soy divorciado!”
Nobody says it better than Mel Blossom (Fleming), a comic from the U.S. now living and working in Merida…check her out on You Tube! Good thing we’re signed up for Spanish classes in January ’cause I really need to go shopping, and Ric needs to stop scaring off the construction workers….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HJfR9JG_63k#!
yomimiyo 
Browsing through your blog. This one cracked me up!