Christopher aka TennesseineSpain is considering getting rid of the “ñ” to reduce the need for special characters on keyboards.
The change is expected to be implemented next anus.
Richard 🏳️🌈@tennesseine the “ñ” is required to spell my last name.
With a plain “n” my last name would have an entirely different, and unpleasant, meaning.
They already got rid of the double L and double R, requiring everyone to relearn the Spanish alphabet.
That made sense, but I’m particularly fond of “ñ,” as I’ve mastered how to explain the correct spelling of my name.
@prodygy Am I guessing your last name correctly if I say it would be a “pity” if it weren’t spelled with an ñ? 🙃
@tennesseine pity is polite. Depending upon geographic location, it can be quite the insult.
@prodygy Ah that would be ending in e though not a right? Pena peña pene 🙃
@tennesseine I’ve heard pena as a major insult in novelas, which I sometimes watch when I’ve overdosed on Star Trek.
To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever used pena or pene in conversation.
I have spent decades, literally, teaching people how to spell and pronounce my name.
I even resisted pressure to change the spelling to penya when I was in my 20s, by a professor who thought I should modernize the name.
@tennesseine however middle school classmates already did pene in English, and would ask me if my name meant penis.
One day, in pre-algebra, I just answered really loud, why are you always thinking about my penis?
I got sent to the back of the room, but that was the last of the penis jokes until we had to establish limits in high school.
@prodygy Pena = grief, Peña = a surname, Pene = penis. In some places you hear words like grief or pity (lástima) used as expletives, but there is nothing inherently obscene about the words.
@tennesseine if I had more friends who wanted to converse in Spanish, I would have more of the nuances mastered.