We keep detailed records on our sterilization cases each month, noting the numbers of dogs and cats, and of males and females of each species, sterilized at each campaign. The database, created on an old version of Excel, goes back 21 years and enables us to observe trends over time. Our campaign coordinator reports the cases after each campaign using abbreviations for the species and sexes of the animals.
Recently one of our newer board members, Jim Sullivan, who’s a genius with data systems, moved our sterilization database to a more sophisticated program that can do fancier analyses. Out of habit, though, I have kept tracking the numbers on Excel and recently realized that the two systems were showing very different results. In the new system, males were being reported as females, and vice versa.
When I pointed this out to Jim, he checked Google Translate and discovered to his astonishment that “ph” means perras hembras (female dogs), not, as he had reasonably supposed, perros hombres, and that “pm” means perros machos (male dogs), not perras mujeres (female dogs). This discovery had both of us convulsed in laughter.
Confusion involving these terms can be embarrassing in a social context. I recall when, years ago, I bumped into a previous Amigos volunteer who had married and was now a young father. He proudly presented his newborn baby to me. “Is it a macho or an hembra?” I politely asked. He looked stunned. Then he realized I was just an ignorant gringa and burst out laughing. As every Mexican knows, hembra and macho refer to nonhumans. Niño and niña are the correct terms for children.
End of Spanish lesson.