dip vs west

tonight i experienced my first Spanish blunder. went out to to eat with a friend to our favorite mexican restaurant. well, me learning Spanish, i decided to communicate solely in Spanish. so before leaving work to pick her up, i translated, "we would like a small cheese dip" to Spanish.

after studying, picking her up, and ordering our drinks, i said (with the blunder, mind you), "nos gustaria una pequena poniente de queso." blank stare from the waitress. i say it again. blank stare. finally i said, "ok, how do you say it, cheese dip?" and she says, "appetizer?" no. so, i resorted, "well, ok, we'd like a small queso, please" and off she goes.

at the end of the evening i consulted my cheat sheet and found the words for "cheese dip" were "pendiente de queso". instead of pendiente, i said poniente. what i had actually said was, "we would like a small WEST of cheese."

lesson: poniente = west; pendiente = dip

you can laugh now if you want. :-)