Culture: Fun Spanish Words!
There are a lot of great Spanish words that I really enjoy and get a kick out of. Today I’ll share some of these with you to help you learn Spanish and a little about Spanish culture.
A few of my favorite Spanish words have to do with cars. These words may vary by location; for example, the word for “horn” in one country is “cláxon”, and in another country it is “bocina”. Most core Spanish words are the same country to country but certain specialized words vary in different regions of the world.
Now we’ll move on to more of the fun words. The word for car “windshield” is “para brizas”, which literally translates to “it stops breezes”. In Spanish, the word used for “bumper” is “para choques”, which means “it stops crashes”. And, the word for a heavy-duty grill in the front of a vehicle is called “mataperros” which means “dog killer”.
For the record, we are a very animal-friendly company, website and blog, and I wouldn’t have created the word “mataperros” for “grill” if I had invented Spanish. However, by way of information, that is simply the name for “grill” in some areas. I believe that Latin-Americans may have called it “mataperros” because there is an over-abundance of dogs in many Latin American countries — especially in many poor pueblos where they seem to be everywhere. A few areas have a kind of dog that is especially strange. This dog is gray and is almost bald with just a few hairs on its head. Where I am from, I have never seen a dog of that breed before going to Latin America, and especially not hundreds of them in the same city. I’ll just say that it is the kind of dog I would not choose to own myself.
It’s time for a mythbuster. In some parts of Asia people eat dogs but this is not the case in Latin America. Even though there are hundreds of dogs there, they don’t eat them — at least not in the Latin countries I have ever lived in or visited. However, they do eat guinea pigs which are pets in the U.S., but that is a different topic.
Because we are talking about food, there is a fun word that I really like in Spanish that people use commonly. This word is “me ostiga” and it means “I’ve eaten so much of that type of food that I am really tired of it”. There are certain places to use and not to use this word. Remember, as I have mentioned in past newsletters, if someone in Latin America invites you to dinner, if you don’t eat everything or are not very complimentary and thankful for the food, they can become offended by your behavior. In other words, don’t ever use the phrase “me ostiga” with the host/hostess that invited you over to eat. The proper place to use this phrase would be after the meal when you are talking to a friend and after you are out of earshot from the host/hostess.
Moral of the Story: 1. Spanish words can be fun to learn as log as you use them in the proper setting. 2. Don’t plan on eating dog in Latin America, but, be prepared to meet many dogs if you visit smaller pueblos. 3. Remember to eat all of your food when eating dinner with the native speakers and compliment the host/hostess. 4. You may eat guinea pig in some countries but it isn’t very common so I wouldn’t worry too much if you don’t want to eat it.
Sneak peek at next week: “How to instantly learn hundreds of Spanish words.”
¡Hasta luego! (Until later!)
David S. Clark — President / Director
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