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Wherever you are in spanish8/5/2023 (Note: Pelayo might only be used in the Caribbean parts of Colombia, not sure. By the way, a few other ways to refer to a boy in Spanish include muchacho, pibe, chico, joven, and in Colombia they say pelayo or pelayito in the diminutive. Decades ago my father and I were waiting at a bus stop in Chicago when a Puerto Rican man came up to him and said "Dame un chavo!" My father, probably thinking that I might be in some danger, quickly high-tailed it out of there with me. Still on the subject of animals, "chavo" for most people means "boy" or "lad." But in Puerto Rico and some of those Spanish-speaking island nations, chavo is used to refer to money, either coins or dollars. Find out first it that word will earn you a slap in the face! Other words for good-looking in Spanish include guapa (for women, guapo for men), linda/o, hermosa/o. I have always used this word for "monkey." But don't be surprised if the English-Spanish dictionary tells you it means "good-looking." So if you are trying to make a move on some attractive señorita some day somewhere down in Latin America, be careful. I thought "They drink wine in the morning in Colombia?" I didn't ask about it, I just thought ok you know "When in Rome." I knew the world wasn't all messed up when the lady came back to me a few minutes later with a cup of black coffee. Imagine my surprise when one morning while sitting in a law office in Colombia the office manager offered me a tinto. For red wine you say "vino tinto" in Spanish. Being the son of an Argentine mother I had always thought of tinto as being red wine. In parts of Latin America "tinto" is used to refer to black coffee. Chevere is commonly used in the northern parts of South America and in the Spanish-speaking parts of the Caribbean. It is used when you want to say that someone or something is cool! Other words in Spanish for this kind of cool include genial and chevere. In Spain you use this word when you want to pick something, or catch a bus, such as in the sentence " Mañana voy a coger un autobús." In Mexico and most of Latin America? It is basically the "F" word. That one will be a little hard to chew and swallow! So don't go asking for a taco in a Peruvian restaurant. In most of Latin America it mean the heel of a shoe. It is also used to grab attention, like our "hey" in America, or as a simple filler.Ĭhe, this is not just a delicious Mexican food staple with carne asada or the meat of your choice with tomatoes and lettuce. You can probably tell if it is someone making fun of an Argentine if they add an exaggerated sing-songy accent to it (imitating the "Porteño" accent of the Buenos Aires resident). If you ever hear someone use this word, they are Argentine or just making fun of an Argentine. This one is clearly and exclusively Argentine. I am still trying to figure that one out. Instead of saying "Hazme un favor" (Do me a favor), the Colombian is likely to shorten the last part to "unfa". And "Porfa" is used for "Por favor." I have also seen Colombians write "porfis". When you may be waxing and waning and pondering whether to do something or not, you may be told by a Mexican to "Échale ganas!" In other parts of Latin America you may be told instead to "Ponete las pilas!" or to put in your "batteries." Meaning: Put some heart into something you are doing. Sometimes you may also hear someone ask you, "¿Qué onda?" meaning "What's up?" The difference I am trying to point out here with Buena onda is that I probably would use this one with younger people, not older. With older people I may just say that someone "Me cae bien." (I like, or get a good feeling about them.) It is just that it seems to have come into style more in recent times. Not that this phrase is so not common throughout Latin America. Here are a few Spanish words or phrases that I use and others don't, and vice versa: The wrong word can get you into trouble in some places, while some differences are just fun, or funny, and worth sharing and learning. Not that differences in Spanish are all dangerous. And I think ,being both an English and Spanish teacher, that maybe you have to be a bit more careful with your words when traveling through the Spanish-speaking world than when dealing with the English-speaking world. When I stop and think of it I can't help but really be amazed at just how different it can be. I think that Spanish is quite a bit more different from region-to region than English is. We know that English is somewhat different from one English-region to another.
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