Comments on: I Say Autobus, You Say Guagua

By: class factotum

class factotum — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:09:08 +0000

Avocado is “palta” in Chile too.

“Guagua” is baby in Chile. “Micro” is bus.

I worked for a company that did business in Latin America. A product brochure mentioned the “pico.” This brochure was used in Chile, where “pico” is slang for — umm – male parts.

I asked them if they knew this and they just shrugged and said they couldn’t have a different brochure for every country.

Yes, I wanted to say, but you could have the translations done here in Miami and not in Iowa because you would have a better shot at not making these kinds of mistakes.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:05:56 +0000

Interesting and so true. Although we have difference ways of saying things, English is more difficult to learn. We have feminine and masculine words, English doesn’t.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:44:49 +0000

Lou, that is a great story! I can see the Cuban faces now, all the way from here.

When Oscar and I came up with naming our adult t-shirt line, Chichi & Flaco, it was based on our nicknames. Little did either of us Cuban-American kids know that chi chis are Spanish slang for boobs.

Ah, well!

By: Lou

Lou — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:08:00 +0000

This reminds me of a funny story that happened to a friend of mine. She is Puerto Rican-American, raised in Georgia. The only Spanish she knew was Puerto Rican spanish. When she moved to Miami several years ago (her husband got transferred for work), she went to a Cuban bakery for the first time in her life… and asked for “un bollo de pan.” She said that every single (supposedly Cuban) person in the bakery went dead silent and just stared at her in shock. The lady behind the counter then asked if she meant “una flauta de pan.” My friend asked what the difference was and proceeded to die of embarrassment when the lady explained what “bollo” meant in Cuban. =)

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Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:33:43 +0000

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By: Melek

Melek — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:51:47 +0000

Thanks for sharing Roxana!

I’m sure many can relate to you. This does not happen at our home because my husband is Turkish.

There’s a wide range of colloquial expressions, idioms, argot and barbarisms in Spanish, which are cleaqrly evident upon verbal interaction in this great cultural and diverse melting pot (USA).

I’m sure that many of us when speaking Spanish, have encountered people who would hear us say something and either correct us or just say: “Ah!Like you _____ (Cubans, Peruvians, Mexicans, etc.)say” … Sometimes with a mocking tone … my personal rule of thumb when this happens, is to point out that as long as the word is in the dictionary, it’s proper to use it, thus accepting that the difference more likely is due to a simple nuance resulting from regionalisms and culture … e.g. lechon, cerdo, chancho, cochino, puerco, and marrano are all in the dictionary …!

Vanessa will just grow with a richer vocabulary as a result of this … lucky girl!! :)

I wish you well :) Melek

“Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground.” ~ N. Webster