Literal Translation
To speak English like a Spanish cow
Actual Meaning
To speak really bad English
Etymology
Works with all languages!
This expression dates back to the 17th century, except that instead of cows, it referred to ‘vasces’, a word used to describe the Basques. The Spanish Basques did not speak French very well. It was therefore an inelegant way of mocking the mountain dwellers of the Pyrenees who crossed the border for seasonal agricultural work.
Another hypothesis has also been put forward to explain the origin of the expression. It does not refer to a cow but to a ‘basse’, a word used to refer to a servant. The term ‘bassoteuse’ was used to refer to a woman of low social standing. The reference to Spain accentuates the nastiness of the expression: people would say ‘payer à l’espagnole’ (pay Spanish style) when they beat up someone who came to claim money owed to them.
In other countries, when people speak poor French, they use surprising expressions. In the United States, for example, they say ‘to murder French’. As for our Dutch friends, they take the logic even further by saying ‘het frans radbraken’, meaning ‘to subject French to the wheel’. At least these violent expressions indicate self-awareness?