I've taken Spanish, I speak it pretty well . . . .
Ok, so my vocab has been slipping since college. The word for "basement" (sótano) or "having dactylic stress, accented on the antepenult" (esdrújula) often come to mind but basic and uninteresting words are gone -- lightbulb, for instance. It seems my brain is attracted to shiny, three-syllable words.
Also, my accent confuses people because it's from Spain instead of South America, so it sounds like I am some pompous idiot in a metaphorical top-hat when I say words like "música" as "muthhhhhhhhhica."
But I digress. Recalculating route. . . .
Stupid revelations can be useful; for example, burrito means "little donkey." I went through college, prime burrito eating years, without once realizing that. For further reading: there's a burrito scholar online and his academic paper was invaluable to understanding the burrito and its glorious, several-hundred year history. (That's what happens when a stoner gets doctoral funding. You should really see this guy's essay on "nacho fries" -- revelatory.)
So any, my silly revelation went in a script for A Prairie Home Companion this week (of course with some edits).