Spanish word of the day

Quote: Wizard

This makes me wonder if the English word rodeo is actually a Spanish word. At a rodeo the center is circular with the crowd surrounding it. Or maybe it is because the cowboy is trying to surround the calf to throw the rope around its neck. Maybe the rope itself is what the word rodeo refers to. Paco, this has your name written all over it.

rodeo first recorded in 1914 as public entertainment show of horse-riding skill.

The word was first recorded in 1834 to mean "cattle round-up". This meaning was taken from Spanish rodear.

It is a lot like stampede which is an Anglicization of estampida. Obviously most of our words come from Latin usually filtered through the Norman language since that has been going on for over 950 years. However, here is a short list mostly associated with the Old West. Most are obviously of Spanish origin, but some words like tuna are not immediately seen as being Spanish words.

armadillo (literally, "the little armed one")
bronco (means "wild" or "rough" in Spanish)
buckaroo (possibly from vaquero, "cowboy")
bunco (probably from banco, "bank")
burrito (literally "little donkey")
burro
chaps (from Mexican Spanish chaparreras)
chihuahua (dog breed named after Mexican city and state)
chile relleno (Mexican food)
chili (from chile, derived from Nahuatl chilli)
chili con carne (con carne means "with meat")
chocolate (originally xocolatl, from Nahuatl, an indigenous Mexican language)
churro (Mexican food)
cigar, cigarette (from cigarro)
cinch (from cincho, "belt")
derecho (a type of windstorm that can be found in the U.S. Midwest)
desperado
enchilada (participle of enchilar, "to season with chili")
fajita (diminutive of faja, a belt or sash, probably so named due to strips of meat)
flauta (a fried, rolled tortilla)
garbanzo (type of bean)
guacamole (originally from Nahuatl ahuacam, "avocado," and molli, "sauce")
guerrilla (In Spanish, the word refers to a small fighting force. A guerrilla fighter is a guerrillero.)
habanero (a type of pepper; in Spanish, the word refers to something from Havana)
hacienda (in Spanish, the initial h is silent)
huarache (type of sandal)
hoosegow (slang term for a jail comes from Spanish juzgado, participle of juzgar, "to judge")
jerky (the word for dried meet comes from charqui, which in turn came from the Quechua ch'arki)
jicama (originally from Nahuatl)
key (the word for a small island comes from the Spanish cayo, possibly of Caribbean origin)
lariat (from la reata, "the lasso")
mulatto (from mulato)
mustang (from mestengo, "stray")
negro (comes from either the Spanish or Portuguese word for the color black)
palomino (originally meant a white dove in Spanish)
patio (In Spanish, the word most often refers to a courtyard.)
peso (Although in Spanish a peso is also a monetary unit, it more generally means a weight.)
peyote (originally Nahuatl peyotl)
picaresque (from picaresco)
pickaninny (offensive term, from pequeño, "small")
pimento (Spanish pimiento)
pinole (a meal made of grain and beans; originally Nahuatl pinolli)
pinto (Spanish for "spotted" or "painted")
piña colada (literally meaning "strained pineapple")
plantain (from plátano or plántano)
plaza
poncho (Spanish adopted the word from Araucanian, an indigenous South American language)
potato (from batata, a word of Caribbean origin)
pronto (from an adjective or adverb meaning "quick" or "quickly"
pueblo (in Spanish, the word can mean simply "people")
quadroon (from cuaterón)
quesadilla
quirt (type of riding whip, comes from Spanish cuarta)
ranch (Rancho often means "ranch" in Mexican Spanish, but it can also mean a settlement, camp or meal rations.)
reefer (drug slang, possibly from Mexican Spanish grifa, "marijuana")
renegade (from renegado)
rodeo
rumba (from rumbo, originally referring to the course of a ship and, by extension, the revelry aboard)
salsa (In Spanish, almost any kind of a sauce or gravy can be referred to as salsa.)
sarsaparilla (from zarza, "bramble," and parilla, "small vine")
sassafras (from sasafrás)
savanna (from obsolete Spanish çavana, originally Taino zabana, "grassland")
savvy (from sabe, a form of the verb saber, "to know")
serape (Mexican blanket)
serrano (type of pepper)
shack (possibly from Mexican Spanish jacal, from the Nahuatl xcalli, "adobe hut")
siesta
sombrero (In Spanish, the word, which is derived from sombra, "shade," can mean almost any kind of hat, not just the traditional broad-rimmed Mexican hat.)
spaniel (ultimately from hispania, the same root that gave us the words "Spain" and español)
stampede (from estampida)
stevedore (from estibador, one who stows or packs things)
stockade (from a French derivation of the Spanish estacada, "fence" or "stockade")
tuna (from atún)
vamoose (from vamos, a form of "to go")
vanilla (from vainilla)
vaquero (English regionalism for a cowboy)
vicuña (animal similar to a llama, from Quechua wikuña)
vigilante (from adjective for "vigilant")

Quote: pacomartin

rodeo first recorded in 1914 as public entertainment show of horse-riding skill.

The word was first recorded in 1834 to mean "cattle round-up". This meaning was taken from Spanish rodear.

I once attended a charreada (did I spell that correctly?) in San Antonio. Very similar to what I would consider a conventional rodeo, but more emphasis on riding skills and riding pageantry. So if American English picked up "rodeo" from Mexican Spanish, how did we miss out on "charreada"?

Quote: Wizard

La viuda vieja está rodeada de gatos. = The old widow is surrounded by cats.

I'm not sure about the rodeada.

be sure. It's the right usage and the right word. A+

Quote:

I could easily be wrong about the de. Por crosses my mind too.

You could have used "por." But "de" also applies in this case. if there is a difference, it's a minor and technical one.

BTW another example:

"Tenemos la casa rodeada" = "We have the house surrounded" I've noticed in cop shows they always say "the place" whether they've surrounded an office building, a house or anything else. In spanish people would tend to be more specific.

Also, since you mention "rodeo" as a detour, that's half right. One might say "tuve que rodear la calle cerrada" = "I had to go around the closed street," which indicates a detour. But a formal detour such as the ones you find when streets are being repaired, is called "Desviación." And that is also the word for "Deviation."

Quote: Doc

I once attended a charreada (did I spell that correctly?) in San Antonio. Very similar to what I would consider a conventional rodeo, but more emphasis on riding skills and riding pageantry. So if American English picked up "rodeo" from Mexican Spanish, how did we miss out on "charreada"?

The charreada or charrería is as old as the conquest of Mexico in 1520. It would seem that the word was never anglicized. I would imagine since originally Americans would have concentrated on rodeo skills. If the word has not changed it's spelling by even a single letter or it's pronunciation, I would consider it still a Spanish word, even if it is commonly used in Northern America.

Rodeo is loanword because English speakers use it exclusively as a noun. It is not normally translated, but if you did it would probably be "round up". The Spanish verb rodear meaning "to turn around" has a conjugation rodeo which means "I turn around". So even though there is a Spanish word with the exact same spelling and the same history, the Spanish word is a verb.

Charreada in it's current form developed after the Mexican Revolution when charro traditions were disappearing. I saw this in Oaxaca as well. The Guelaguetza, or Los lunes del cerro (Mondays on the Hill) is an annual indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca, capital of the state of Oaxaca, as well as in nearby villages. It was originally a pagan festival involving the sacrifice of a virgin and the taking of psychotropic mushrooms. After the conquest, as was very common, it was reorganized as celebration of the Virgin del Carmen. They had a devastating earthquake in Oaxaca City in the 1920's, and as a morale booster, it became more or less a well organized display of the dance and singing from all the indigenous cultures in the state.

The Guelaguetza eventually required the building of a stadium in the 1970's to prevent damage to the hill and to make it much safer for spectators. When a divided highway was built in 1994 and improvements made to the airport, the Valley began to attract weekend tourists from Mexico City, and international visitors (more from Europe than the USA). The Guelaguetza ended up becoming a major money making tourist attraction, and hence a focus of tensions and riots between the angry disaffected and the businessmen who they felt were making a profit on their traditions.

Quote: pacomartin

The Guelaguetza ended up becoming a major money making tourist attraction, and hence a focus of tensions and riots between the angry disaffected and the businessmen who they felt were making a profit on their traditions.

That has more to do with left wing parties and whatever the PRI is these days using the poor in a violent area for their own purposes. The teachers unions there spend more time in protests than teaching.

Minor word of the day
Jamón ibérico

The phrase means Iberian Ham which sells for roughly US$100 per pound. Ibera refers to the peninsula containing Spain and Portugal.


It is fantastic ham, much better than it's poorer cousin, Italian prosciutto, which can usually be bought for less then $20 per pound.

At the Madrid Masters, Scotland's Elliot Saltman has won his weight (237 pounds) in ham for acing the par-3 third in the second round on Friday. The media is having a good time with this prize, but failing to mention that it is a gift worth well over $20,000 .

Quote: pacomartin

Minor word of the day
Jamón ibérico

I thought it was called Jamon Serrano.

Quote:

Ibera refers to the peninsula containing Spain and Portugal.

That would be IberIa. It's also the name of Spain's major airline.

Quote: Nareed

I thought it was called Jamon Serrano.
That would be IberIa. It's also the name of Spain's major airline.

Jamon Serrano is typically about $18 / pound (bone in) and is an expensive but still more common than IberIco.




Jamon IberIco is typically about $60 / pound (bone in) and closer to $100 per pound boneless.

This leg of Jamon IberIco was advertised at Selfridge's department store in London at 7 kg for £1,800 (that is over $180 / pound and includes the leg bone).

I did mistype the word.

The most expensive hams from VA I have seen are usually 11-14 pounds for $169.

Ejemplo time.

No voy a comerlos, Sam Soy Yo. No me gustan huevos verdes y jamón Ibérico. = I will not eat them, Sam I Am. I do not like green eggs and Iberian ham.

They don't use the phrase Sam Soy Yo for two reasons. It (a) doesn't rhyme, and (b) that isn't how you form the passive voice in Spanish.
I am not sure how to translate "Sam, I am" into Spanish since it is such an awkward phrase in English (if it didn't rhyme). I think it would be Sam, soy siendo.

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss	Huevos verdes con jamón por Dr. Seuss
(I am Sam)	(Yo soy Juan)
(Sam I am)	(Yo soy Juan Ramón)
That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!	¡Ese Juan Ramón! ¡Ese Juan Ramón! ¡No me gusta nada ese Juan Ramón!
Do you like green eggs and ham?	¿Te gustan los huevos verdes con jamón?
I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like green eggs and ham.	No, no me gustan nada, Juan Ramón. No, no me gustan nada los huevos verdes con jamón.
Would you like them here or there?	¿Te gustarían aquí o los quieres allá?
I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.	No, no me gustarían, no los quiero aquí ni allá. No, no me gustarían aquí, allá o mas allá. Pues no me gustan nada los huevos verdes con jamón. No, no me gustan nada, Juan Ramón.
Would you like them in a house? Would you like them with a mouse?	¿Te gustarían en un caserón? ¿Te gustarían con un ratón?
I do not like them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am.	No, no me gustarían en un caserón. No, no me gustarían con un ratón. No, no me gustarían aquí, allá o mas allá. Pues no me gustan nada los huevos verdes con jamón. No, no me gustan nada,Juan Ramón.
Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them with a fox?	¿Los comerías en un cajón con un zorro en un rincón?
Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse. I would not eat them here or there I would not eat them anywhere. I would not eat green eggs and ham.I do not like them, Sam-I-am.	No los quiero en un cajón con un zorro en un rincón. Tampoco en un caserón y menos con un ratón. No los como aquí ni allá, aquí, allá o más allá. No como huevos verdes con jamón pues no me gustan nada, Juan Ramón.
Would You? Could you? In a car? Eat them! Eat them! Here they are.	¿Podrías? ¿Los querrías en un coche? ¡Cómelos que se enfrían esta noche!

Quote: Wizard

No voy a comerlos, Sam Soy Yo. No me gustan huevos verdes y jamón Ibérico. = I will not eat them, Sam I Am. I do not like green eggs and Iberian ham.

I wouldn't eat green eggs, either.

BTW it's "No me gustan LOS huevos verdes..."

Quote: pacomartin

They don't use the phrase Sam Soy Yo for two reasons. It (a) doesn't rhyme, and (b) that isn't how you form the passive voice in Spanish.

I won't go into the fine points of translating poetry, even bad poetry, but it is common to substitute words to force the rhyme. That's why it's best left untranslated.


One of the French kings, probably Louis XIV, made a famous proclamation "L'État, c'est moi" In Spanish that translates as "El Estado soy yo." And that's exactly right.

Quote:

I am not sure how to translate "Sam, I am" into Spanish since it is such an awkward phrase in English (if it didn't rhyme). I think it would be Sam, soy siendo.

Just like the Wizard did. Your version means "Sam I am being"

Wow, thanks for the extensive translation of Green Eggs and Ham. They obviously took some liberties with it. For example, why did they put the fox in a corner?

Going from Eat them! Eat them! Here they are to ¡Cómelos que se enfrían esta noche! is quite a jump.

It just goes to show the frustration I often deal with trying to get through the Spanish translation of an English book. For example, the original English book refers to the tooth fairy. However, in the Spanish translation the fairy becomes a raton. One might think that raton was Spanish for fairy. I asked my house cleaner about it and she said in Mexico a mouse does indeed exchange children's baby teeth for money, instead of the fairy that has that duty north of the border. My tutor says in Argentina they also have the mouse. Makes me wonder which came first? I'd bet on the mouse, and we gringos couldn't stand the thought of a mouse crawling around the bed of sleeping children, so softened the legend to a fairy.

About Sam Soy Yo, I obviously had to take a wild guess on that one. I thought my way at least sounded good, so went with that. Juan Ramón has a nice ring to it, I must admit. I'd be proud to have that name.

Quote: Wizard

Makes me wonder which came first? I'd be on the mouse, and we gringos couldn't stand the thought of a mouse crawling around the bed of sleeping children, so softened the legend to a fairy.

About Sam Soy Yo, I obviously had to take a wild guess on that one. I thought my way at least sounded good, so went with that. Juan Ramón has a nice ring to it, I must admit. I'd be proud to have that name.

It would appear you are correct. The mouse version began with a French fairy tale writer in the late 17th century (a century before the Brothers Grimm), while the English version of a "fairy" only appears definitively in a book published in 1949. The mouse version is far better known in more cultures.



I appear to have over-thought the translation. My reasoning was "I am Sam" is an active voice, so "Sam I am" must be passive voice. I tried to construct it according to the passive voice rules.

Quote: pacomartin

My reasoning was "I am Sam" is an active voice, so "Sam I am" must be passive voice.

I thought that was Yoda voice.

More seriously, I can't remember details of passive voice, but I think of it with action verbs, with an assisting form of to be or to get: "I push," vs. "I am pushed." I can't really think of passive voice forms with non-action verbs. If I use the same kind of structure, I wind up with some sort of progressive form: "I am being Sam."

The passive voice emphasizes the object of an action, rather than who is causing the action. For example, "The window was opened by the thief."

I got into the active/passive voice thing in my Ask the Wizard question about a Harry Reid/Sharon Angle poll. To some statisticians, it makes a big difference.

Quote: pacomartin

I appear to have over-thought the translation. My reasoning was "I am Sam" is an active voice, so "Sam I am" must be passive voice. I tried to construct it according to the passive voice rules.

I hate that term. Back when I was active in a writer's group, there was a reviewer who would point out every example of passive voice and suggest I change it. It got so I couldn't read her reviews of my work. I always write what achieves a purpose and sounds good to me, and the hell with the rules.

In any case, "Sam soy yo" is perfectly right. If you were pointing yourself out in a photo, you could say "ese soy yo."

Quote: Nareed

Back when I was active in a writer's group, there was a reviewer who would point out every example of passive voice and suggest I change it.

Microsoft Word's Grammar Checker also discourages passive voice. I usually ignore that advice. I feel that the 20th century teachings against passive voice are as inappropriate as the 19th/20th century teachings against splitting infinitives in English. Wikipedia has a bit of discussion about when/where this anti-passive-voice movement started and some of the arguments against and for use of passive voice. Same for split infinitives.

Quote: Doc

Microsoft Word's Grammar Checker also discourages passive voice.

That one keeps hounding me for sentence fragments. I know what a sentence fragment is, and I can think of good reasons not to use them. I can also think of good reasons to use them in some occasions. Really. I wish the grammar check had an "ignore this type of correction" option.

Quote: Doc

I thought that was Yoda voice.

More seriously, I can't remember details of passive voice, but I think of it with action verbs, with an assisting form of to be or to get: "I push," vs. "I am pushed." I can't really think of passive voice forms with non-action verbs. If I use the same kind of structure, I wind up with some sort of progressive form: "I am being Sam."

Yoda voice is passive voice taken to the extreme.

What you are calling action verbs are normally called transitive verbs in that they are capable of taking a direct object. "Push" is transitive since you can "push" an object. An intransitive verb cannot take a direct object, examples include "fall" in English as "the book fell". Pronomial verbs have the subject and the direct object the same thing. Very often a "pronomial" verb is also reflexive in that it's subject and object are the person speaking. In the RAE dictionary they give one of these options before every definition of a verb.

At first I thought that "I am Sam" was active voice and "Sam, I am" was passive, but there is no transitive verb (as you pointed out). The verb is simple conjugation, and only conveys existence.

As Nareed pointed out, many Spanish writers dislike the passive voice very much, and often try to eliminate it entirely. English is far more tolerant of the passive voice in general. As always, English uses the "-ing" form of verbs much more than Spanish.

The phrasing "I am Sam. Sam, I am." appears to be an anadiplosis which is a rhetorical term for the repetition of the last word of one line or clause to begin the next.

Yoda uses an anadiplosis when he says, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you."

Dios os perdone, el mi hijo,— hijo que mucho preciaba
(The ballad, ‘Pártese el moro Alicante’)

In the ballad "the Muslim is leaving Alicante', a Muslim king gives a nameless (virginal Muslim serving girl) to his defeated and imprisoned adversary, the Christian Ganzalo Gustos. Ostensibly a gift to soothe the nobleman's loss of his seven sons in battle, the young woman's virginity, sexuality, and fecundity are in fact the avenue by which Gustos will obtain new sons and reconquer Muslim Iberia.

Quote: pacomartin

As Nareed pointed out, many Spanish writers dislike the passive voice very much, and often try to eliminate it entirely. English is far more tolerant of the passive voice in general. As always, English uses the "-ing" form of verbs much more than Spanish.

Well, I've no idea what Spanish writers like or dislike. I realize the info was incomplete, I do that with casual assumptions sometimes. The writer's group was in English. I haven't even tried to write fiction in Spanish since, oh, must have been near 1990. I just can't write Science Fiction properly in Spanish.

I have never understood the nit-picky editors who chastise every use of the passive voice. A point is made more clearly using it sometimes.

Quote: Wizard

I have never understood the nit-picky editors who chastise every use of the passive voice. A point is made more clearly using it sometimes.

My personal pain in the neck went too far when she criticized this opening:

Quote:

My name is Golden. I am a human being.
I was born on Earth seven hundred and twenty eight years ago.

How else is someone supposed to describe the time and place of their birth?

Quote: Wizard

It just goes to show the frustration I often deal with trying to get through the Spanish translation of an English book.

I quit reading translations to Spanish a long time ago. I've read a few books in both languages, and in all of them I found egregious errors. None worse than in a Spanish copy of "We The Living." The book is about the early years of Communism in Russia. It involves an early scene between Andre and Kira more or less like this:

Spanish version:

Andre: I know what you're going to say. You admire our ideals but loathe our methods.
Kira: I admire your methods.

This seemed very out of character for Kira, especially given subsequent events in the book. The original goes like this:

Andre: I know what you're going to say. You admire our ideals but loathe our methods.
Kira: I loathe your ideals.

And that is perfectly in keeping with Kira's character throughout the book.

Quote:

For example, the original English book refers to the tooth fairy. However, in the Spanish translation the fairy becomes a raton. One might think that raton was Spanish for fairy. I asked my house cleaner about it and she said in Mexico a mouse does indeed exchange children's baby teeth for money, instead of the fairy that has that duty north of the border.

FWIW I think a tooth fairy makes more sense. What would a mouse do with teeth? A fairy, being sentient, is allowed to have some eccentricities. Collecting teeth isn't as bad as such things go, and she pays for them. And where would a mouse get money?

Just the same, some pediatric dentists down here, when they extract baby teeth they put them in small, plastic, mouse-shaped containers for the children to take home and put beneath their pillows. I used to get them wrapped in gauze, without so much even as a plastic baggie.

Thanks for all the comments above, but time to move on.

Fecha: 9 de Octobre, 2011
Palabra: Telo

Today's word has no English equivalent. It may not be known outside of Argentina either. A telo is a very short-term hotel, like an hour. Yes, couples go there just for the purpose of having sex. Here is a good article that tells more about them: Argentina's discreet way with sex, from the BBC news.

I was speaking with someone visiting from Argentina about them yesterday. She said that in Argentina there is no such thing as a home mortgage so children usually live with their parents until they marry, or even later than that. That creates a need for a place to have a little privacy from time to time.

Ejemplo time (ahem).

Mi novia rompe neustro relación después de la llevé a ese telo sucio. = My girlfriend broke our relationship after I took her to that filthy telo.

Quote: Wizard

Fecha: 9 de Octobre, 2011
Palabra: Telo

Today's word has no English equivalent. It may not be known outside of Argentina either.

I'd never heard of it before.

It's curious there's no exact equivalent in English. In Mexico such places are known as "hotel de paso."

Mi novia rompe neustro relación después de la llevé a ese telo sucio. = My girlfriend broke our relationship after I took her to that filthy telo.

Mi novia rompIÓ nuestrA relacion despues de QUE la llevé a ese telo sucio.

Quote: Wizard

Today's word has no English equivalent.

There is no equivalent need for a word in the USA. The small families, higher rates of living alone, and the more than 4 million hotel rooms available in this country, means that renting rooms by the hour is confined to slums.

Many countries have some equivalent. Love hotels are everywhere in Japan. Although the motivation in Japan seems to be less getting away from the relatives as it is to indulge in make use of some fantasy or dedicated equipment. I was talking to a woman who was raised in Hong Kong, and she implied that a normal middle class couple has virtually no privacy since so many family members live together.

I remember reading that in Vietnam, the government decided to start arresting large numbers of people having sex in the bushes in a public park. Naturally, they assumed they were cracking down on prostitution. They were surprised to find that the majority of couples were married, and were just desperately looking for a little privacy from their relatives (at no cost).

I would think that Las Vegas would be the near perfect city for the married couple looking for a place to go to help their sex life. With 150K hotel rooms, many of which are dirt cheap midweek, you can afford an overnight tryst far from electric bills, washing machines, and the kids.

Quote: pacomartin

There is no equivalent need for a word in the USA. The small families, higher rates of living alone, and the more than 4 million hotel rooms available in this country, means that renting rooms by the hour is confined to slums.

Such conditions don't exist in Mexico, yet the hotels under discussion are largely found in the worse parts of town, too. Mostly they cater to prostitution. In small towns, it's not unusual for all hotels to charge hourly rates, too.

In Macau some of the hotels that cater to the prostitution business offer rooms by both the day and the hour. The Rio is a good example. New review, by the way, check it out.

I have only vaguely heard of some motels in the US doing this, as in Mexico, in parts of town that cater to prostitution. There are a number of dilapidated motels between the El Cortez and the Western that I suspect are used for this purpose.

In contrast, I find the concept of the telo rather romantic, where loving couples go.

Those hotel rooms in downtown Vegas are $25 to $30 a night. There is little advantage to renting a room by the hour, as it would not make sense to rent for much less. Now some people probably don't sleep there.

The "telo" can be very romantic. And certainly many hotels in the US cater to married couples who simply want to get away from their lives for the day. Many of these hotels now have expensive equipment that most couples can't afford at home or are unwilling to explain to their children.

Fecha: 10 de Octobre, 2011
Palabra: Meter

Today's word is one of the more difficult words I have encountered in Spanish. It means a whole host of different usages in English. I'm sure Spanish speakers learning English feel the same way about words like "run," which has about 100 different usages.

Here are some of the usages mentioned at spanishdict.com:

1. To place or to put in, to include one thing within another, to get on.
2. To smuggle goods into a country (géneros).
3. To make, to cause (causar), to occasion, to urge, to move.
4. To engage, to prevail upon, to induce.
5. To stake (dinero), to put to hazard.
6. To cram down victuals.
7. To put things close together, to cram or heap them together.
8. To impose upon, to deceive.
9. To compress, to straighten, to reduce.
10. (coll.) To eat.
11. To meddle, to intermeddle, to interfere.
12. To be on terms of familiarity with a person.
13. To choose a profession or trade.
14. To be led astray, to plunge into vice.
15. To empty into the sea (ríos).
16. To attack sword in hand.
17. To go into, to get into (introducirse).
18. To extend, to project.
19. To provoke somebody (provocar).

What many have in common is putting something into something else, in part to get rid of it. Others have to do with choosing something or getting into a different place. Meter seems to be a strong word regarding a change of state of something important. While it has a lot of usages, I don't seem to see it a great deal.

Ejemplo time.

No meterse in mis problemas. = Don't interfere in my problems.

Quote: Wizard

Fecha: 10 de Octobre, 2011
Palabra: Meter
3. To make, to cause (causar), to occasion, to urge, to move.

Meter seems to be a strong word regarding a change of state of something important. While it has a lot of usages, I don't seem to see it a great deal.

While not immediately obvious a related English word is mission which is a noun derived from the verb with a meaning similar to definition #4. It agrees with the Wizard's description as "regarding a change of state of something important".

A related word in Spanish is someter or English submit which literally means "to put in a state of being underneath".

In English there are hundreds of words that begin with the suffix sub- and many of them have a perfectly comprehensive root words, like subhuman, suburban, and subtask.

Others words are like "submit", and "subvert" where the root does not mean anything in English. Subvert literally means "to pour under" although we are much more likely to say "destroy". Spanish, being closer to Latin, is often still be using the root word. For instance vertir means "to pour" in Spanish.

The English root "mit" is from Latin "mittĕre" which gives us Spanish "meter".

Quote: Wizard

Today's word is one of the more difficult words I have encountered in Spanish. It means a whole host of different usages in English. I'm sure Spanish speakers learning English feel the same way about words like "run," which has about 100 different usages.

I won't vouch for all the meanings you found. However, the meaning most used is "to put in." The second would be "to get oneself in"

Examples:

Mete la ropa a la maleta = Put the clothes in the suitcase.
Métete a la cama = Go to bed.
Metí mi dinero en la bolsa = I put my money into the stock market.

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No meterse in mis problemas. = Don't interfere in my problems.

You're slipping.

No TE METAS EN mis problemas = Don't butt into my problelms.

OR:

No te metas en mis asuntos = Stay out of my business.

Thanks, as always for your help. I didn't have any questions so let's move on.

Fecha: 11 de Octobre, 2011
Palabras: Añadir y Agregar

Today we have two words which both mean to add. What is the difference?, you might ask. I wrote out a long paragraph trying to explain it, but realized at the end I really didn't know, so erased it.

Ejemplo time.

¿Tienes algo que añadir nuestra discusión? = Do you have anything to add to our discussion?

I pulled this question out of a blog: Alguien me podria decir como puedo añadir un boton de "agregar a favoritos" con javascript?
I would translate it to: Is there anyone who can tell me how to add a button to "aggregate of favorites" with Javascript?

In English "to aggregate" and "to add up" are synonyms, but we use them at different times.

Quote: rae definitions

agregar. (Del lat. aggregāre).
1. tr. Unir o juntar unas personas o cosas a otras. U. t. c. prnl.
2. tr. Añadir algo a lo ya dicho o escrito.
3. tr. Destinar a alguien a un cuerpo u oficina o asociarlo a otro empleado, pero sin darle plaza efectiva.
4. tr. anexar.

añadir. (Del lat. *inaddĕre, de addĕre, añadir).
1. tr. Agregar, incorporar algo a otra cosa.
2. tr. Aumentar, acrecentar, ampliar.

anexar. (De anexo).
1. tr. Unir o agregar algo a otra cosa con dependencia de ella.
2. tr. Guat., Hond. y Ven. adjuntar (‖ enviar algo juntamente con un escrito).

The RAE uses one word to translate the other. Usually when the RAE says U. t. c. prnl. or "usado también como pronomial" it gives a pronomial (reflexive) definition as well. Not in this case. All definitions are "transitive".


Latin adgregō
Etymology
From ad + gregō (to+“collect, assemble”).
I bring, attach or add to a crowd or flock; lump together.
(reflexive) I attach to myself, follow or adhere to.

Quote: Wizard

Fecha: 11 de Octobre, 2011
Palabras: Añadir y Agregar

Today we have two words which both mean to add. What is the difference?, you might ask. I wrote out a long paragraph trying to explain it, but realized at the end I really didn't know, so erased it.

I can't say I know, either, come to think of it. I tend to use "agregar" more becase I mislike using the "ñ" sound at all if it can be avoided. BUt other than that the verbs are synonimous. I don't see the point, but neither do I see the point of the letters "s" and "z" coexisting in the same alphabet.

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Ejemplo time.

¿Tienes algo que añadir nuestra discusión? = Do you have anything to add to our discussion?

I'm trying to come up with a reason why that should be "agregar" rather than "añadir," but I just can't think of one. Other than that's the term I'd use, which of course isn't a compelling reason :) Oh, it looks wrong to say "añadir," but I can't say why.

Quote: pacomartin

In English "to aggregate" and "to add up" are synonyms, but we use them at different times.

While I had an excellent English teacher, some of my learning was informal. In that sense, I gather that "aggregate" also means something like "the sum of" as used in business sometimes. I think it's also a noun used in construction as part of how concrete should be mixed. Something about sand, cement, water and aggregate.

Quote: Nareed

I'm trying to come up with a reason why that should be "agregar" rather than "añadir," but I just can't think of one. Other than that's the term I'd use, which of course isn't a compelling reason :) Oh, it looks wrong to say "añadir," but I can't say why.

Oxford did a lot of research about the preferences towards one word over another when they are synonyms. For instance we always say "grocery bag" and not "grocery sack" and we are much more likely to refer to an "eccentric uncle" than a "quirky uncle". In many cases there is no underlying reason, it is just custom.

Aggregate and sum basically do mean the same thing, but are used in different situations. Sum gets used about 50 times as often in everyday speech. Aggregate is more likely to be used in a legal or scientific sense. George Carlin would probably say that "aggregate" is the kind of word people say to sound smarter, but that we don't really need in the language. I too tend to avoid long words when a shorter one will do just fine.

In Spanish I seem to see agregar and añadir about equally as often, and I can't put in writing any difference in context, although I have thoughts swirling around in my head about it.

Today is Martes, which means my housecleaner Lupe comes over. I asked her about this and she said the two words are el mismo. Then again, I don't think she is the highest source to turn to on the fine points of Spanish grammar.

Here is a puzzle.

The dish in the photo is a fried pancreas which literally means "pan"="all", "kreas"="flesh". The word may come from the medieval belief that organs were made up all kinds of flesh. Normally, when a pancreas is cooked it is called "sweetbread" in English. The word may be related to the Anglo Saxon word bræd which means "flesh"

But by coincidence the word "pan" means"bread" in Spanish, and the Latin word for bread is "panis". Obviously the eucharist is bread made "flesh".

It is an unusual word in English. Normally, if we cook and serve an organ, it is not normally given a different name. Kidneys cooked and eaten are still called kidneys.


Do you think it is a simple coincidence?

I am not sure what you call cooked edible pancreas in Spanish. Google suggests a word which also translates as gizzard.

Ooo. The thought of eating any organ grosses me out (to revert to 80's vernacular). I probably do every time I eat a hot dog, but don't tell me that.

I have no good comments to add about this. Based on my limited knowledge of the bible, bread was figurative of food in general. Back in the 70's "dough" was a common expression for money. So I think bread has a connotation as being very important or essential for survival, and also something easily exchanged.

It wouldn't surprise me if when they thought of the term for a pancreas they didn't know what it was supposed to do. Perhaps the name refers to the fact that it is just part of the whole body.

Quote: pacomartin

I am not sure what you call cooked edible pancreas in Spanish.

Edible? Surely you jest.

OK. People will and can eat it. So? They can also eat shrimp (yuck!) to stay this side of completely disgusting "food" choices. In my book that doesn't make it edible.

Anyway, I don't know of any term for pancreas otehr than pancreas.

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Google suggests a word which also translates as gizzard.

Isn't that a part of birds specifically? I think that's known as "molleja." I know a restaurant I'll never order chicken soup at again because they use those things in their recipe (it did taste odd).

Quote: Wizard

Ooo. The thought of eating any organ grosses me out (to revert to 80's vernacular).

Hear, hear.

I can give a pass to eating beef heart, because hearts are made of muscle. I've never tried it, but I've read it's bitter and tough.

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I probably do every time I eat a hot dog, but don't tell me that.

Not likely. But I wont' tell you what i know goes into sausages.

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Back in the 70's "dough" was a common expression for money.

I thought it still was. Anyway, a comparable Mexican expression reffers to catching a criminal in the act, or with dammning evidence: "Lo agarraron con las manos en la masa." Literally "he was caught with his hands on the dough." But there's no indication exactly what the "masa" means.

Quote: Nareed

I thought it (dough as an expression for money) still was. Anyway, a comparable Mexican expression reffers to catching a criminal in the act, or with dammning evidence: "Lo agarraron con las manos en la masa." Literally "he was caught with his hands on the dough." But there's no indication exactly what the "masa" means.

I can't remember anyone saying dough, as in money, since the seventies. Same goes for "bread." There doesn't seem to be as much of a penchant to speak in slang as their used to be, which I applaud. What is wrong with calling money "money"?

Speaking of which, in Argentina they seem to use plata (silver) in place of dinero most of the time. Is plata a legitimate word for money in Spanish, or more of a slang expression?

Here if a criminal were caught in the act of stealing we might say "He was caught with his hands in the cookie jar." This is an obvious reference it sneaking cookies from the jar as a child. What kid hasn't done that?

Quote: Wizard

Ooo. The thought of eating any organ grosses me out (to revert to 80's vernacular). I probably do every time I eat a hot dog, but don't tell me that.

I think liver is the best known organ eaten in Anglo culture. The British eat "suet" which is the fat around the kidney. It is used in Steak and Kidney pudding, and in mincemeat.


Tripe is basically stomach and intestines and is popular in many cultures. Menudo is very popular in Mexico and Southwest USA and is made from beef stomach. Chitterlings or chitlins are pig intestines. As we mentioned earlier, sweetmeats are the pancreas. Giblets are the heart, gizzard, liver, and other visceral organs of birds. Mountain oysters are gonads. People eat pickled pork brains. Some of the more generic organs are simply called offal in English.

Hot Dogs Are Offal A typical "all beef" hot dog derives nearly 60 percent of its calories from fat and contains about 40 milligrams of cholesterol, making it a contributor to the dietary pattern that encourages not only diabetes, but also obesity, heart disease, and other health risks.

"It has been said that the only industry in which some part of the cow is not used is concrete production." Cow feet and hooves are rendered for human and pet food, gelatin, glue, buttons, handles, lubricants, cowheel jelly, bonemeal, soaps, the foam in fire extinguishers, and fertilizers. Cow parts are used in everything from airplane manufacture to tire production.Tires and pavement are manufactured, in part, with bovine fatty acids, and plywood is bound together with adhesive made partly of cow blood.

Quote: Wizard

I can't remember anyone saying dough, as in money, since the seventies. Same goes for "bread."

I do. But that's not relevant.

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There doesn't seem to be as much of a penchant to speak in slang as their used to be, which I applaud.

It seems to me slang is as rampant as ever. Perhaps you see more diminutives of words, or shortenings of words, used as slang; like comp or fan, rather than complimentary and fanatic.

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What is wrong with calling money "money"?

Nothing.

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Speaking of which, in Argentina they seem to use plata (silver) in place of dinero most of the time. Is plata a legitimate word for money in Spanish, or more of a slang expression?

It can be used from time to time, but it is slang. Outside Argentina the uses of "plata" for money are rare and not very specific. The slang expression for money in Mexico is "lana" meaning "wool."

I can understand using silver as a term for money, after all not that long ago there were silver coins in circulation. But I'm stumped why wool is a term for money.

Quote:

Here if a criminal were caught in the act of stealing we might say "He was caught with his hands in the cookie jar." This is an obvious reference it sneaking cookies from the jar as a child. What kid hasn't done that?

Kids whose parents dind't keep cookies in jars. Like me.

Quote: Nareed

The slang expression for money in Mexico is "lana" meaning "wool." I can understand using silver as a term for money, after all not that long ago there were silver coins in circulation. But I'm stumped why wool is a term for money..

I see some bloggers that offer barely believable explanations. Some say it is related to lambskin wallets. Others say it is short for "porcelana". Neither explanation sounds believable.

On blogger offers up the following extensive list of alternative words.
MÉXICO: billete, lechuga, lana, feria, varo, Sor Juana, Benito, Juaritos, Cuauhtémoc, tostón, MILagro, marmaja, morlaco, pachocha, excremento, hija, hermana, madre, bola, billeye...
ARGENTINA: Guita, plata, mango, sope, mosca, chaucas (poco dinero), chirola (poco dinero),
BOLIVIA: Peso, quivo, lucas, suelto ...
CHILE: phaucha, gamba, kina, luca, palo, gringo, monea, plata, billullo (billetes), chipes
COSTA RICA: harina, chochosca, greenpaper, cañas, rojos, tejita, puya, menudo, guevo, papeles, los rogelios, el pozo...
CUBA: astilla, gallo, guaca, guano
El SALVADOR: bolas, feria, lana
ESPAÑA: pasta (gansa), tela, viruta, moni, guita, leuro, perras, duros, pela, plata, money, china, cuartos, perras, billetaje, no tener blanca (no tener dinero), no tener una gorda (no tener dinero), lana, metal, peseta, taleguilla, parné, cumquibus, taleguilla, manteca, panocha, mosca, mone(d)a,...
NICARAGUA: feria
PERÚ: florencios, Fichas, luca, china, ferro, guita, plata, mony, marmaja, billegas, mangos, cocos...
PARAGUAY: pirapire, hendy cabaju resà, moñay, efe.
PUERTO RICO: chavo, chavería (poco dinero)
VENEZUELA: plata, bolos, rial, billullo, lucas, churupo, palos, estar limpio (no tener dinero), billete...
COLOMBIA: pesos, plata, barras, Villegas, melones, palos, lucas, luquitas, biyuyo...
EL SALVADOR: paro, bola, pisto, feria, biyuyo, chirilicas, money, niuncinco(no tengo dinero).
HONDURAS: polas, tablas, biyuyo, payulos, pisto, varas, andar hule o liso (no tener dinero)
GUATEMALA: pisto, varas, tukis, lana, biyuyo, billete, plata, paloma, un peso
URUGUAY: puita, plata, mango, sope, mosca, fierro, guiye,


One of the oldest slang terms in the USA with an interesting history is 8 bits or sometimes 2 bits = quarter. The Spanish dollar (also known as the piece of eight, the real de a ocho or the eight-real coin) is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. It had a legal weight of 27.468 g and a millesimal fineness of 930.5 (25.561 g fine silver). Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler. . It was the coin upon which the original United States dollar was based, and it remained legal tender in the United States until the Coinage Act of 1857 discontinued the practice. Because it was widely used in Europe, the Americas, and the Far East, it became the first world currency by the late 18th century.

Peso was a name given in Spain and particularly in Spanish America to the real de a ocho. Since peso literally means "weight", it is not that much different than the British referring to their currency as the pound.

Paco,

I think I regurgitated a little bit when I saw the pancreas picture you posted....yuck!!

Quote: nareed

It seems to me slang is as rampant as ever. Perhaps you see more diminutives of words, or shortenings of words, used as slang; like comp or fan, rather than complimentary and fanatic.

Fan, as in short for fanatic, has become so widely used that I think few would doubt it has become a legitimate word. Comp is on the way. It is used on an everyday basis here in Vegas.

Quote: Alan

I think I regurgitated a little bit when I saw the pancreas picture you posted....yuck!!

Me too. Especially after Steve Jobs just died from cancer of the pancreas.