Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 3:36 am Post subject: Spanish idioms and slang
Estudio español en una escuela cuyos maestros son de todas partes del mundo hispanohablante. Mi maestro actual es español y cuando usa slang y expresiones idiomaticas, no nos dice si estan conocidas en todas partes o solamente en España. Dado que vivo en California y la mayoría de la gente con quien puedo hablar español son Mexicanos o Centroamericanos, quiero concentrar en memorisar las expresiones que estan conocidos en el hemisferio occidental.
Conoces estas palabras y expresiones? (Y de donde eres?)
tiquismiquis (a nitpicker?)
nevera (the non-freezer part of the refrigerator)
meriendas (snacks)
refrigerios(?) (snacks)
tentempié (snack)
como miel sobre hojuelas (fig., “icing on the cake”)
se me cae la baba (fig., “it makes my mouth water” — not sure I understood his explanation)
I had so many more words and expressions I wanted to ask about, but a few weeks ago I left my notebook on the subway and it hasn't been found.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:00 pm Post subject: Re: Spanish idioms and slang
Deborah wrote:
Conoces estas palabras y expresiones? (Y de donde eres?)
tiquismiquis (a nitpicker?)
nevera (the non-freezer part of the refrigerator)
meriendas (snacks)
refrigerios(?) (snacks)
tentempié (snack)
como miel sobre hojuelas (fig., “icing on the cake”)
se me cae la baba (fig., “it makes my mouth water” — not sure I understood his explanation)
I'm familiar with all those words except nevera. Never heard of it. I just know the whole thing as refrigador or el refri, and freezer as congelador.
Although, tentempié, refrigerios and meriendas all mean "snack", they have different connotations to me. I think of tentempiés and refrigerios as light snacks that you eat to tie you over until the next meal, like granola bars, candies, potato chips, and fruits, etc. Meriendas are the foods you eat during la merienda, which is a special part of the day much like afternoon tea in England (sandwiches, pies, baked goods, etc).
se me cae la baba --> caérsele la baba (a uno por algo / alguien) – to drool (over something / someone) (babear - to drool, to slobber)
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:09 pm Post subject:
Thanks, Elaine. I had to ask because my new teacher, good though he is, is a fairly recent arrival here and apparently is not as familiar with differences between Latin American and Spanish usage as the other teachers are. For example, he didn't know about "manejar" meaning "to drive.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:56 am Post subject:
Deborah wrote:
Here's a comment I saw while perusing youtube.com:
Esta poca madre esta cancion, una de las mejores.
I assume the first "Esta" is supposed to be "Está", but what does "poca madre" mean?
Poca madre is Mexican slang that can either be used in a positive or negative sense depending on context. If you say "poca madre" to someone, you’re basically calling him an asshole or a jerk. If someone or something (fate, a bad movie, ghastly food, etc.) has done you wrong, you say "¡qué poca madre!" (equivalent to "Oh, shit!" or "Dammit to hell!!", but if something is cool beyond words you say, "¡está poca madre!" (equivalent to "Fucking cool!" or "This is the shit!") Either way, it's considered crass, so if you're in polite company, mind your words.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 6:08 pm Post subject:
Deborah wrote:
So the situation is not that poca madre is a euphemism for puta madre, but that the former is used in Mexico and the later is used in Spain?
Well, puta madre is also used in Mexican Spanish, but I think it's primarily used as an insult or interjection (¡Puta Madre! = F*cking shit!), while poca madre has many more uses and meanings. It is used to place value on something:
"Ese equipo ésta poca madre!" = That team rules!
"una idea de poca madre" = a brilliant idea
"Qué poca madre que no te dejaron entrar" = That sucks that they didn't let you in.
I think it's directly related to the idiom no tener madre which means to have no scruples, cojones, or shame. Thus, having poca madre means to have little shame.
They do not use manejar in Spain for drive? I learn new things everyday I guess. So what do they use instead? I wonder about other words specifically the word "aretes" which to me means earrings but that may be different to. I have also heard the word "traje" which means to me a womens dress being used differently also. Spanish can be crazy variant to variant eh..
They do not use manejar in Spain for drive? I learn new things everyday I guess. So what do they use instead? I wonder about other words specifically the word "aretes" which to me means earrings but that may be different to. I have also heard the word "traje" which means to me a womens dress being used differently also. Spanish can be crazy variant to variant eh..
You mean manejar ( drive) = the verb, to drive a car ? I think, that this is : conducir in Spain. earrings are : los pendientes. I think that dress is la vestida.
But, I don't speak very well spanish, so I'm not absolutly certain of this words.
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:16 am Post subject:
JGreco wrote:
They do not use manejar in Spain for drive? I learn new things everyday I guess. So what do they use instead? I wonder about other words specifically the word "aretes" which to me means earrings but that may be different to. I have also heard the word "traje" which means to me a womens dress being used differently also. Spanish can be crazy variant to variant eh..
As Pauline said, "to drive" is "conducir" in Spain. "Traje" means either a suit or a costume. And, to tell the truth, I was very glad to learn that the word for "earrings" in Spain is "pendientes" (sounds like "pendants"), because I could never remember "aretes"! I guess I must have learned -- or not learned -- the word "aretes" when I had a teacher from Habana.
Having had 2 teachers from Madrid most recently, I've started to think in terms of "vosostros" rather than "ustedes", but I have to keep reminding myself to remember to use "recoger", not "coger", around here.
Once when we had a substitute teacher from Mexico, most of us found him easier to understand -- except for the student from Paris, who had studied Spanish in school and was, of course, used to hearing people who sounded like my current teacher.
¿Qué es "Tiquismiquis"? ¿donde usan esa palabrita? Es la primera vez que la veo.
A la "nevera" en Perú le llamamos "frigider" o "refri". Y al congelador le llamamos "freezer", pero no estoy seguro si al escribirlo es como en inglés o se usa una translitaración tipo "friser" o algo así.
By the way, Elaine... Thank you very much for the explanaitions about those phrases in Mexican Spanish, I didn't know them.
By the way, in Perú we also use the expression "de la putamadre" E.g. "¡Oe, el concierto estuvo de la putamadre!" And as Fab said is not as vulgar as it may seem. It's fairly casual. In Peru there's also "la cagada" like in "¡Oe, el concierto estuvo la cagada!". I think in English you could say something like "That concert was the shit!". Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Pero lo extraño es que, por alguna razón, "la cagada" la mayoría de las veces es vulgar, y uno preferiría decir "de la putamadre". Cosas del Perú nuestro de cada día.
Pedro de Perú
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