Gary Williams (williamsg471)

[Through the a's at last. Still, that's about 10% of the book. --gw]

b. In spain called simply be, but in Mexico be grande and in S/A be larga (v. also v and w).

balda. v. estante.

balde (m). 'Bin', 'bucket', 'pail', and, as likely as not, 'dustbin/trashcan'. In Spain it half-suggests a bucket made of plastic, in L/A more likely of metal, but nowhere is the distinction hard and fast. Cubo means much the same but is is perhaps more likely to be made of metal. In so far as Spanish has a precise word for trashcan it is basurero or balde de basura but in this department people are not always precise; I have heard caneca, tarro and totoma (Colobmia) all used for it though all these, basically, mean 'pot'. If the reader uses cubo de basura he/she is unlikely to go far wrong.

ballesta. v. muelle.

balón (m). By way of being False since it does not mean 'balloon', which is normally globo. Its commonest everday meaning is 'football', though it can apply to any large ball of this type (v. bola). In snob circles, particularly in Buenos Aires, you may hear balón being used, following the French, for the all-but-spherical 'brandy glasses', though the normal word for these is copas de coñac .

banana (f). 'Banana', yes, but no tin Spain, where bananas are platanos . In L/A platanos are the large, greener ones used in cooking (plantains). In an electrical context una banana is a wander-plug .

[Need-more-help-with-my-English department: what in the world is a 'wander-plug'? Maybe some of you Spanish-speakers who recognize 'banana' in an electrical context can help me out.--gw]

pickypuck

<<banana (f). 'Banana', yes, but not in Spain,

In Spain "una banana" is a kind of very big plátano.

<<[Need-more-help-with-my-English department: what in the world is a 'wander-plug'? Maybe some of you Spanish-speakers who recognize 'banana' in an electrical context can help me out.--gw]

This website http://www.sapiensman.com/ESDictionary/P/Technical_vocabulary_Spanish(P9).htm says that a wander plug is called in Spanish "una clavija variable". I can't say how accurate the translation is though.

ErnestChris (ErnestChris1)

A wander plug is usually a plug on the end of a flexible wire that you can plug in to one of a number of sockets. It wanders! For some reason the plugs used for this are also called banana plugs in English as well.

BTW here's a picture: http://www.pacificcable.com/Picture_Page.asp?DataName=250-200RD

A picture of the matching socket:

http://www.hificables.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/10993/groupID/713/categoryID/2440/v/

Have you noticed that Spanish does not distinguish a plug from a socket. I suspect that the real translation of enchufe is simply a connector. If Spanish needs to choose one or the other they do it like I used to. Fixed or free, male or female. De pared, macho o hembra.

goodoldave

Banana plugs aren't used as electrical plugs (e.g. 120 V wall outlets). They're an older type plug typically used on signal cables for electronic equipment like stereos and electronic test equipment like oscillocopes, etc.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

banda. v. pista.

baño (m). Strictly 'bath', and el cuarto de baño is the 'bathroom' but owing to the widespread practice in the Americas of putting all the items of bathroom furniture into the one room it has come to be a euphemism there for that item which is most often urgently needed. The British pracice of segregating this article into a separate 'little room' and calling it a 'water-closet' has, it is true, resulted in the word 'closet' falling into disrepute in England (though not in Scotland) but it means that the word 'bathroom' has sufffered much less there in this respect. Baño has, I fear, gone similarly downhill and the impatient reader, unable to wait for an answer, may be relieved to know that, yes, it means 'restroom/powder room/lav/loo/can/john', etc. and ¿Dónde está el baño? is a question not likely to be misunderstood, at events in L/A. For ladies el tocador (de señoras) , los aseos or el excusado are possible euphemisms; in the R/P la toilette (pronounced la tualé ).
Context, however, can cleanse the word and in a hotel Dormitoria con baño does mean with bath, or at all events shower, and 'I'm going to have a bath' is Voy a tomar un baño. If you wish to refer specifically to the 'bath-tub' in which you have it then the proper word is bañera , though tina is often used in L/A.
As to the titles used to designate the 'toilet' premises, the commonest are Caballeros and Damas . In Spain servicios is used to cover both and it is as well to know that this does not refer to the 'kitchen'. Ellos and Ellas are another possibility so be sure of your genders; the same applies to Señores and Señoras . Sometimes profile figures, representing a man and a woman respectively (or a pipe and a high-heeled shoe) will be fixed to the appropriate doors but modern fashions are such that these may occasionally need a little scrutiny first. In Meixo a struck a new one: mingitorios , and ladies had better be warned that these are usually for gentlemen only; L/A countries are sometimes wonderfully unfussed about the segration of the sexes. In some of the cruder bars you will simply see Baño, even though this refers to some stinking jakes, at the back of the bar, after using which you feel you could almost do with a bath. If you get really far out, e.g. in some of the wilder parts of Colombia, then ladies are simply not catered for and the 'Gents' needs no title since it is in the corner for all to see. In such a desperate contingency ladies should try to have a word with the lady of the house; she may well be serving behind the bar, though a female friend who tried this was told No hay baño, hay campo. In Ecuador the word baño has suffered less degradation and really means a bath. There they usually designate the toilet premises as el water or vater and this is widely understood beyond Ecuador. Urinarios is also widespread, but will not usually apply to the Ladies.
It should be added that all this was valid for the 1970's. There is, however, a universal tendency for these euphemisms to become too clearly identified with what they stand for, e.g. 'closet', 'W.C.', 'lavatory', or retrete , which was acceptable in Spain a few decades ago but now sounds gross. Readers are therefore advised to keep their ears open.

banqueta (f), banquete (m). You should distinguish between these two words since it is only the second which is Reliable and means a 'banquet'. Banqueta is therefore False and normally means a rectangular stool (a three-legged circular stool, or a low stool, is likely to be un taburete ), though it applies to any chair or bench which has no back. In the R/P I heard it used for the French 'banquette ', i.e. the ornamental 'side-table' or 'half-table' of which the straight half is flush with the wall. In Mexico and C/A banqueta means 'sidewalk/pavement' (v. acera).

[But the Mexican singer Yuri, in "¿Que Te Pasa?", has the words "La tormenta ya pasó, y en todas las aceras nuevamente brilla el sol...". So while perhaps banqueta is used in Mexico for 'sidewalk', acera must also be in use there, or at least understood. --gw]

[Interesting English-language etymological insight here: 'banquet' must originally mean something like "the kind of feast at which there are so many people that they must be seated on benches."--gw]

[And what would be Spanish for 'bar-stool'?--gw]

pickypuck

<<[And what would be Spanish for 'bar-stool'?--gw]

Taburete.

barba (f), barbudo. Barba means 'beard', of course, but a common, if slangy, expression in Mexico is hacer la barba (a alguien) which means 'to suck up (to somebody)', and un barbero is therefore 'a toady', 'an ingratiator'. Barbudos , 'bearded', has of recent years been applied to guerrilleros of the Che Guevara type.

barbaridad (f), bárbaro. Literally: 'barbarity' and 'barbarous' respectively but widely used colloquially where we should use such words as 'awful', 'frightful', 'terrible'. Bárbaro can mean both 'awful' and 'awfully good': ¡Que bárbaro! in an enthusiastic tone of voice could well be said of a particularly good shot at, say, football: Es un tío bárbaro, 'He's a helluva fellow'.

About barbaridad there is less uncertainty; it is not used in a favorable sense and ¡Qué barbaridad! means 'How frightful!', 'How infuriating!' Very common is una barbaridad de for 'an awful lot of': Había una barbaridad de gente , 'There was a fearful crowd'; Tuve una barbaridad de cosas que hacer, 'I had a terrible lot of things to do'. (Montón can also be used as a milder term for this.

These expressions are perhaps commoner in Spain than in L/A but readers are referred to the entry under brutal.

barra (f). 'Bar', in almost every sense except the sort you have drinks in , and even there it can apply to the bar you drink them at . Hardly any dictionary, however, gives one meaning which is everyday in Spain, viz. a 'loaf' of bread, of the type shaped something like a bar, e.g. French bread. Less everyday, perhaps, but common is 'stroke': /, on a typewriter. In the R/P una barra may mean a 'coterie' of friends, a 'clique', a 'gang'. In music it means the 'bar-line', not the space between two bar lines, which is compás ; 'double-bar' is las barras .

pickypuck

<<Hardly any dictionary, however, gives one meaning which is everyday in Spain, viz. a 'loaf' of bread, of the type shaped something like a bar, e.g. French bread.

The loaf of bread "de toda la vida" is called barra de pan. However, there's a type of bread (French bread, but I don't know if it is the same French bread you mention) that people call "baguette".

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

Well, we also sometimes call the loaf of French bread, maybe 10-15 cm in diameter and maybe half a meter or a little more in length, a baguette. What are the dimensions of Spanish bread? The American loaf is perhaps 12.5-15 cm square and maybe .3 m. in length.

pickypuck

There are not standard measures afaik. You can find different types of bread in practically every village. By your description, I think your baguettes are ours too.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

Are your loaves typically a little shorter and a little more square than the French ones?

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Not so much squarer as thicker-in-the-middle. A Spanish "barra", although varying by region as Picky says, is generally at least twice as thick as a baguette, and somewhat shorter.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

barraca (f). False; it does not mean 'barracks', but 'hut', 'cabin'. 'Barracks' is cuartel (Spain) or caserna (L/A) (v. also suburbio). The 'cabin' on a ship is un camarote .

barrio (m). It seems to suggest 'barrier' but this is barrera ; barrio is universally a 'quarter' of a city, e.g. el barrio latino, 'the Latin quarter', but its image varies and in LA it has a bad image (v. suburbios).

bastar. 'To suffice'. This is well attended to in most dictionaries, but ¡Basta! , 'That's enough!' and bastante for 'fairly', 'rather', 'pretty', etc. should certainly be at your tongue's tip: bastante caro, 'pretty dear'.

bazar (m). A curious False Friend with a vareity of images; in Spain it means a 'toy-shop'; in the R/P a 'store' for household equipment (pots, pans, cutlery, glass, etc.); in Mexico a 'shop' for both buying and selling second-hand goods.

pickypuck

<<bazar (m). A curious False Friend with a vareity of images; in Spain it means a 'toy-shop'

Not really. In a "bazar" you can virtually find anything.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

bestia (f). 'Beast', but Reliable only at the animal level when you mean no more than the beasts of the field. In the field of metaphor and applied to humans, it involves contempt and equates with 'idiot', 'fool', 'twirp'. It is a favourite word for stigmatizing the driver of some other car.

bien. Strictly an adverb, but there is an idiomatic use of it as an adjective: de casa bien is a stock phrase meaning 'of good family', 'from a well-to-do-home'. It is often used where we might say 'well brought up', but it implies a certain amount of wealth in the background. Bien can also be a noun meaning 'property': Con todos sus bienes , 'with all his worldly goods.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

"Bestia" is not so much idiot or fool as "ham-fisted and lacking in tactfulness", not cruel though (not purposefully cruel I mean, it can end up being cruel through mindlessness), so it can't be used in "he was a beast to me", but like this:

Intenté abrirlo con cuidado, pero al final lo hice a lo bestia.
I tried opening it carefully, but in the end I used brute force.
¡No seas bestia! No le puedes decir eso en su estado delicado.
Don't be so tactless! You can't say that to her in her delicate state.

Used while driving, it would mean somebody cutting in with no forethought, just slamming right in with no care, for example.

¡Bestia! ¡Para habernos matado!
Brute! We could have killed ourselves!

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

I like your 'brute' translation.

I suppose that the overlap between the book's take and yours is that the book's word 'fool' kind of equates to the stupidity, the mindlessness one would use of a brute beast.

(Tangentially--It's amazing what sticks in one's mind from childhood. I remember some western tv show or movie from the 50's in which someone nearly got himself killed because he addressed some Spanish-speaker as "You brute." Seems the problem the Spanish-speaker had wasn't with the comment on his mental perspicacity, but in his making a connection between English "brute" and Latin "Brutus", or traitor.)

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Yes, foolish by virtue of barging ahead and asking questions afterwards, hehe, that's a "bestia" for you.

That thing about the film... strange, if the Spanish-speaker was educated enough to recognize "Brutus", that he wouldn't understand "brute" for "bruto" (which is another way to say "bestia")... maybe he did understand it as such, and was offended (which might well be).

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

bife (m). Literally a 'beef', but in practice a boneless 'cutlet' or 'fillet', and not necessarily of beef; you can have bifes de cerdo, or any other animal. It is primarily an R/P word and you can also have un bebi bife but do not expect it to be particularly small. In Mexico a common misspelling is bibsteak .

billete (m). In all countries this means a 'banknote'. In Spain it also means a 'ticket' for a journey which, in L/A, is un boleto. Seldom does it mean a 'ticket' for some kind of performance (bullfights, theatres, concerts, etc.) for which the usual word is entrada (q.v.) though boleto is often used in the C/S (v. also local).

bizcocho (m). False, in its quite way; in does not mean 'biscuit' but 'sponge-cake', or some similar kind of cake or bun: 'Biscuit' ('cookie', 'cracker') is galleta . In mexico it is vulgarly used, usually in the Diminutive, for the female organ.

pickypuck

<<In Mexico a common misspelling is bibsteak .

In Spain, bisté/bistec. People here say filete, though.

<< though boleto is often used in the C/S (v. also local).

Boletos in Spain are the tickets of different types of lottery like La Primitiva, La Quiniela, Euromillones, etc.

What they give you when you buy in a supermarket or any other shop is "un ticket/tique (de compra)".

Ela (ElaHuguet)

A curious side-note: "galleta" in colloquial speech also means a "slap" (as in "he slapped me on the face"). Regarding "slap", my favourite rendition has always been one my mother was partial to saying: "soplamocos", because of the vivid picture it conjures. :)

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

blanquillo (m). Diminutive of blanco and so 'white' but widely used as a noun for 'white' of egg. In Mexico and Guatemala it is often used as a euphemism for the eggs themselves since huevos (q.v.) may raise giggles. In the Z/A it means a 'white' peach, as opposed to a golden one.

pickypuck

<<blanquillo (m). Diminutive of blanco and so 'white' but widely used as a noun for 'white' of egg.

Here it is always "la clara".

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

bloque (m). A cylinder block in a car, but v. also cuadra.

boca (f). 'Mouth', as you know, but slangily used in Venezuela (possibly elsewhere) to mean 'face' (i.e., cara ). In El Salvador I found it used for the snacks that automatically go with drinks (perhaps short for bocadillos ) which were taken seriously enough to be listed on the wall and you were asked to specify (v. bocadillos, aperitivos).

bocacalle (f). Literally 'steet-mouth', but used in Spain where we should say 'turning', 'intersection', especially in telling you the way. La tercera bocacalle a la izquierda , 'The third turning on the left'. In L/A this would be Tres cuadras, a la izquierda (v. also esquina).

bocadillo (m). Literally 'little bite', or 'mouthful', but it can mean different things in different countries and in Spain, for example, it usually requires quite a big bite since it there means the kind of 'sandwich' made with a roll, or French bread. In many countries this will be called un sandwich but where tourists are common and Northern tastes better known and catered for, e.g. Mexico, Peru, and indeed Spain intself, sandwich tends to mean one of sliced bread, often toasted (v. sandwich).
In Peru, bocaditos means the little 'snacks' served at cocktail parties. In Venezuela, bocadillo is a rich 'fruit-cake' made from crystallized fruits and their rinds, sold in packets wrapped in banana leaves.

bola (f). 'Ball' of the type which rolls (billiards, bowls, etc.) as opposed to pelota which is hit in the air and may bounce (baseball, fives, tennis, etc.). Another case for quick thinking (v. also balón, huevos).

bolero (m). No doubt many readers will think of Ravel's celebrated concert piece and certainly bolero is an old Spanish dance, but in Mexico it is the usual word for a 'shoe-shine boy' and bolear is 'to polish'. The official description is aseador but bolero is far commoner in practice (v. limpiabotas). Bolera is a 'bowling-alley' in Spain.

boleto (m). The all-but-universal word for 'ticket', in L/A, though you will occasionally hear tique when they know they are dealing with a Gringo. It applies only to tickets for journeys (v. billete). Boletaría , for 'ticket-office', I only came across in the C/S but I suppose it might occur elsewhere; more usual are taquilla , ventanilla .

boliche (m). Has a variety of meanings, mostly associated with ball games. In Mexico it means a 'bowling-alley'. In the R/P it is commonly used of 'the bar on the corner', the 'local', as it were. Since their cities are usually constructed rather on the French modl there are bars on a high percentage of corners.

pickypuck

<<bloque (m). A cylinder block in a car, but v. also cuadra.

The definition of WordReference is interesting in my opinion.

bloque m
1 (trozo grande) block
2 (edificio) block
3 Pol bloc: el bloque conservador votó en contra de la enmienda, the Conservative Bloc voted against the amendment ♦ LOC: en bloque: la propuesta fue rechazada en bloque, the proposal was rejected in its entirety
los ciudadanos respondieron en bloque, people reacted as one

<<boca (f).

Ser un bocas = to be cocky
Ser un bocazas = to be a big mouth

<<bocadillo (m).

Alternative spelling "bocata"

<<bola (f).

Estar en bolas = to be naked (applicable to both men and women ^_^)

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

bolsa (f), -o (m). Both are universal words for 'bag', and suggest bags of some pliable material. Bolsa is fairly universal for a 'paper bag', and 'a packet of chips/crisps' would be una bolsa de papas/patatas fritas . It can also be a 'purse', but a lady's 'handbag', in which the purse goes, is usually bolso, as is a two-handled 'grip', usually made of textile or leather. Usage may vary in different countries as to gender. Una bolsa de agua caliente , 'a hot water bottle (guatero in Chile). La Bolsa (capital B) is the 'Stock Exchange'.

MikeDerk (DerkMike)

>> in which the purse goes <<

The purse goes into a bigger bag? This makes no sense to me.

On a more serious note, I recently came across "el bolso" and my blood ran cold. Suddenly I wondered if "el meso" and "la libra" were right around the corner. I understand "la naranja" "el naranjo" (and even "el naranja") because the lines were so clear cut. "El bolso" to me is a toughie.

(Actually, La Libra *is* a word, but at least it's not something book-like, and "el mesón" is, and that is sort-of tableish in a very general way, but not really, and only if you're drunk.)

pickypuck

bolsa (f)

Bolsas can also be formed under your eyes... I don't know the English word.

Btw, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins are Bilbo y Frodo "Bolsón"

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

bomba (f). Not only 'bomb' but 'pump', of any sort; bombear, 'to pump', especially in L/A (in Spain usually dar aire ). In the R/P the diminutive bombilla is a 'drinking straw'. Bombona , in Spain, means a 'drum' of butate gas (butano), on of the commonest forms of heating.

bonito. A very common adjective, especially in Spain where it equates with 'nice' when applied to things and
'pretty' when applied to a woman. In L/A lindo is more likely for 'pretty'. As a noun bonito means the fish, a favorite for canning in escabeche .

boquilla (f). Diminutive of boca and in practice 'mouthpiece', usually the filter of a cigarette. If you ask for cigaretts con or sin filtro you will be universally understood but if a Mexican shoots at you the question ¿Quiere con boquillas ? (and they love shooting such questions at Gringos) you may be glad to know that he's asking 'Do you want them with filters?'.

pickypuck

<<bomba (f).

Some expressions:

Es la bomba del año = it's the surprise of the year.
Caer como una bomba = to come as a bombshell.
Noticia bomba = shattering piece of news.
Pasarlo bomba = to have a grand time, have a whale of a time.

<<As a noun bonito means the fish, a favorite for canning in escabeche .

Much more in aceite . We use bonito or atún without distinction.

<<boquilla (f).

One expression:

Decir algo de boquilla or decir algo con la boca pequeña = not to be sincere in what is said, to pay lip-service to something.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

borracho. The universal word for 'drunk'; un borracho, 'a drunkard'; una borrachera , 'a boozing session/a binge'. As in English, there are innumerable other words to describe varying degrees of the state and some readers may be a little glad of a little guidance: Ebrio and bebido are somewhat formal words such as might be used in a court of law and so equating with 'intoxicated'. Mareado, literally
'sick', 'dizzy', is a polite euphemism such as a lady might use since borracho might be resented by some, in the same way as 'drunk', as being too strong. Tomado is a similar euphemism and common in L/A. Slangy and facetious words are, or course, legion; I mention a few for entertainment: curado (Ch) , rascado (Ve) , embriagado, copetón (Co) , pluto (Ec) . Verbal phrases are also highly characteristic, e.g. estar en una bomba (Pe) , tener una meluza, coger una borrachera (Sp) . After which readers will be glad to know that 'sober' is sereno. For 'hangover', v. resaca.

borrar, borrador (m). Borrar is really 'to erase', 'to rub out', but it is often loosely used for 'to cross out', and even, by extension, 'to scribble'. The prober verb for 'to cross out' is tachar, though I often heard rayar in L/A. Borrador is usually the 'draft' of a letter, i.e., that can be crossed out and altered but, again by extension, is often used for a 'scribbling-pad'.

pickypuck

Maybe one century ago ^_^ Now all women say "estoy borracha".

Borracho is also a type of sweet and the word can also be used metaphorically. For example, in estar borracho de fama.

A useful expression is "cogerse el punto or el puntillo". Than means that you are at the border of getting drunk. Many people drink only "hasta que se cogen el punto". Also "estar con el punto or el puntillo". Estar con el puntino / cogerse el puntino in Extremadura, since the -ino end is typical from here.

The thing with which you erase what is written on a blackboard is called "borrador" in Spain. Is it "duster" in English?

sendai90210

Where I live it's an "eraser". I've never heard an American say "duster".

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

I've just looked in a medium-sized dictionary, and it doesn't give "duster" in the erasing sense at all--not even with a note "chiefly Br.", which is what I generally expect when a word sort of makes sense but I've not heard it used that way.

It may be of interest that the substance used to make waterproof items and, formerly, automobile tires is so called because among its first uses was to rub out things that had been written, hence, "rubber".

We do, of course, have dusters, but they are mainly for removing dust from furniture and the like.

When I first saw "borrador" I expected it to be given as "eraser". Apparently that would be correct; but is Cassell's "draft" also correct?

pickypuck

Yes, but not only for letters but for anything you may write (articles, chapters, books...).

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

botar. v. tirar.

bote (m). 'Can/tin', i.e. of preserved food. Another word for this is lata (q.v.). Generally speaking lata suggsts a larger can than a bote but on the other hand un bote suggests a round can and lata a square one. You need not bother much about the difference; either will do. Tarro is sometimes used in Chile. In Mexico an 'empty', i.e. a bottle that is returnable, is called un bote (elsewhere un casco or un envase , q.v.).

botones (m). A 'buttons', i.e. 'messenger boy', 'bell hop'. It has a delightfully Victorian sound to our ears [I'm guessing no one younger than I, which means almost everyone, will have an image of a bellman that would suggest the name "buttons"...but maybe your parents can tell you about the one in the Philip Morris ("Call--for--Philip--Morriss!") television commercials of the mid-fifties.--gw] but the word survives in Hispanic hotels and business firms where the boy wears a uniform. It is less likely to be used for the messenger boy in a shop.

bragas (f. pl.), bragueta (f). Perhaps in borders on the improper to take these words together but the second is in fact a diminutive of the first. Bragas in everyday circumstances means 'panties'; bragueta means 'flies', i.e. of pants/trousers. Bragas is also used of very small children's 'underpants'.

brindar, brindis (m). Probably the commonest meaning of this verb is 'to toast', n the sense of 'to drink to the health of'; Brindo por los amigos ausentes , 'I drink the health of absent friends' (and note that the preposition used is por). Un brindis is a 'toast' in this sense and readers who know about bullfights will be aware of el brindis --the dedication of the bull--after the bandilleros have withdrawn at the third trumpet. Brindar bascially means 'to offer', 'to invite', but tends to be used when the invitation can hardly be declined, otherwise convidar or invitar are more likely: Voy a brindarte un whisky (no preposition) in L/A means 'Let me stand you a whisky' or 'Have a whisky on me', i.e., brooking no refusal. Journalists are rather fond of brindar as a more grandiose substitute for invitar. Brindarse is, however, quite common for 'to offer one's services': Manolo se ha brindado a llevar a los niños con él , 'Manolo has offered to take the children with him.'

Albert (Albert76)

A quick observation: Cassell's doesn't focus on the use of "brindar" with the specific meaning of "to provide with" - a synonym of "proporcionar" or "ofrecer". Here in Dallas I see "brindar" used continually on bill-boards or on magazine covers etc with this sense of "to provide".

Some recent examples: "la protectión que les brinda la policía" or "la calidad que nos brinda el producto". Since Cassell's seems to over-look this usage, should I conclude that this may not be standard Spanish? Or did the guy who wrote Cassell's book simply not focus on this particular usage which (in my experience in Hispanic neighborhoods) comes up more frequently than the concept of offering a toast?

Ela (ElaHuguet)

It's not really "provide", it really is "offer": "the service offered by the police", "the quality offered by the product", even though "provide" seems to make sense in the translations.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

brocha (f). 'Brush', yet another word for which there is no one Spanish equivalent; it depends on what sort of brush you mean. Brocha is the type of brush used daubingly, i.e. with a backwards and forwards pasting action, hence 'shaving brush', 'white-wash brush', 'paint brush'. Not, however, an artist's paint brush which is far too delicate an affair to be accused of daubing and has a special name, viz. pincel . Context is usually sufficient to indicate what sort of brush is intended but if you have to make it clear then brocha de pinta, de afeitar, etc. Brocha gorda suggests a 'brush' for house-painting and pintor de brocha gorda is almost a cliché for a deprecatory description of an artist who daubs.

The kind of brush that has stiff bristles, and is used scrubbingly, is cepillo, hence 'toothbrush', 'nailbrush', 'clothes brush', etc.; precise specification involves adding de dientes, de uñas, de ropa , etc. In a carpentry context, however, un cepillo is a small 'plane' usually of metal (the large, wooden type is garlopa ). In an electrical context a 'dynamo brush' is regarded differently in different places; in much of L/A it is called un cepillo (sometimes cepillo carbón ) but elsewhere, including Spain, it is seen as the third type of brush, viz. the type used sweepingly. This is escoba and in domestic contexts it means a '(long-handled) broom', but in electrical contexts escobilla is a 'dynamo-brush'. By and large escoba suggests softer bristles and action in one direction only.

A diminutive of brocha , viz. brocheta , is used for a 'skewer' or 'spit', and in the R/P brocha itself may be used for this.

broma (f). 'A joke', but more of the practical sort; a 'funny story' is un chiste . En broma , 'for fun'. ¿En serio o en broma? , 'Seriously, or are you joking?' Common phrases are una broma pesada , 'a poor sort of joke'; No estoy para bromas , 'I'm not in a joking mood.'

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Not really a "poor" joke, but a joke "gone overboard", or a "serious joke" if that exists, or a very elaborate one... it's the sort of joke that can actually have serious consequences, or not end as well as one thought it might.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

bronce (m). Strictly: 'bronze', but used a good deal about the house for 'brass'. The proper word from brass is latón but this is less often heard and even in an orchestra 'the brass' is usually el bronce .

brusco. It equates well enough with 'brusque', but is used rather more particularly, perhaps, as an equivalent of our 'rude': ¡Esa mujer fue tan brusca! , 'That woman was so rude!' (v. also ordinario). In a car context, too, when it is a matter of stopping 'suddenly' or 'abruptly', bruscamente is the word most likely to occur to a Hispanic. 'Abrupt' is perhaps the best equivalent to bear in mind. Abrupto applied to places means 'rough', 'rugged', 'steep'.

brutal. 'Brutal', yes, but much used, particularly in L/A, for 'terrific', 'smashing', or other extremes of lavish praise: Una comida brutal , 'A smashing meal'. Salvaje is also used in the same way. If you saw the words LIQUIDACIÓN BRUTAL or LIQUIDACIÓN SALVAJE as a newspaper headline, you might be forgiven for thinking that it referred to some brutal murder by Communists but it is much more likely to refer to a 'Sale' at the local store where the prices--one is invited to think--have been savagely slashed. In Guayaquil (Ecuador) I noticed LIQUIDACIÓN INCENDIO (v. also liquidación).

budín (m). A Hispanic attempt at 'pudding' but it is not much like a pudding; it is usually some sort of cake, or trifle.

buffet (m). Not only 'buffet' but also 'diner/restaurant car' on a train and a separate class on Peruvian railways. Elsewhere this is comedor, coche comedor or coche restaurante .

bulla (f). Another word I only became conscious of when I went to L/A where it is probably a commoner word for 'noise' than ruido, the usual word in Spain. Bullangueros can mean, not only 'rioters', but 'a rowdy lot', 'noisy boys' in general.

MiFaDa1

<<budín (m). A Hispanic attempt at 'pudding' but it is not much like a pudding; it is usually some sort of cake, or trifle.>>

My mother in law uses this word for any sweet bread in a muffin form (it hurts my ears to hear it too, hahaha)

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

bus (m).  It would be nice if this were the universal word for 'bus', but it is not; terminology varies from country to country.  Better, for overall purposes, is autobus but in several countries this means specifically 'long-distance', and then implies a more comfortable bus on which all seats are bookable (and more expensive, but buses generally are absurdly cheap and the impecuious young will certainly not disdain them).  Since readers cannot be in more than one country at a time it may be worth giving a brief list, country-wise, for the words for 'bus' or 'coach'.

Mexico:  Usually camión, though Pullman or camión de primera clase may be used for the more comfortable, air-conditioned ones.
Venezuela:  Mostly autobus but the first-class ones are aerobuses.
Colombia:  Mostly bus but flota is often used for 'long-distance'.  'A minibus' is una busetaUn micro may be used of any bus.
Peru:  Ominbus for 'municipal'; interprovincial for 'long-distance'.  Un micro (m) for 'a minibus'.
Chile:  Autobus for 'long-distance'; municipal buses have various names of which the commonest are una góndola or un(a) micro.  A minibus is often called una liebre (literally: 'a hare').
Bolivia:  In the past public bsues were called colectivos but now the usual word is un micro and un colectivo is more likely to mean 'a collective taxi' within city limits.
Argentina"  'Municipal buses' in Buenos Aires are usually colectivos; 'long-distance', autobus.

Uruguay:  'Municipal', omnibus; 'long-distance', autobus.
Spain:  Autobus may serve for all sorts but autocar is more usual for 'long-distance'.
Guatemala:  Camioneta.

I apologize for lack of direct knowledge of other countries but I am reliably informed that in Cuba and in the Canaries a municipal bus is una guagua which, in the Z/A, means 'a baby' (v. also colectivo).

buscar.  'To look for', 'to seek', as you know, but is is used a great deal in contexts where we should use other words than these.  Many of our equations involve the word 'find', particularly double-action verbs:  'go-(and)-find', 'try-and find', and the treble action : 'to fetch':  Voy a buscar algo para leer', 'I'm going to find something to read'; Voy a buscar un vaso de agua, 'I'll just fetch a glass of water'; Tenemos que buscar un suplente, 'We must try and find a replacement'  (obviously 'to-try-and-find' is another way of putting 'to seek').  Needless to say, our all-purpse 'get' will sometimes be the equation:  Voy a buscar algo para comer, 'I'm going to get (or see if I can get) something to eat.'  Yet another aspect of 'to seek', in modern circumstances, is 'to pick up (in a car)':  Fue a buscar a su mujer a la peluqería, 'He's gone to pick up his wife at the hairdresser's'; Le buscaremos a las ocho, 'We'll come and get you at eight o'clock.'

caber.  This curious verb is extremely common and iciomatic but hard to remember to use since we have no one equivalent verb, except 'to accomodate', which can hardly be called everyday.  'To have room for' is certainly one of the commonest equations for it:  No caben más que cuatro, 'There's only room for four', and you should be clear in your mind that it does not really mean 'to fit', which is convenirCaber implies less exact fitting.  It can also be used metaphorically and No cabe duda, 'There's no doubt about it', should be learnt off pat.  Having acquired such expressions you than have to remember that it can be used in the positive as well.  A man trying to fit the last piece of luggage into an already full car and finding, to his satisfaction, that it will go in will probable say ¡Si, cabe!  Cabe la posibilidad, 'There's always the chance.'
It is also a slightly irregular verb.  You might hear a man, hoping to enter an already full car, say ¿Quepo yo?, 'Is there room for me?', without immediately realizing thatquepo is the First Person Singular Present Indicative.

cabrón (m.)  Included chiefly as a warning: literally 'he-goat' but it has extended from there to 'cuckold' and thence to 'bastard'.  It is one of the strongest and rudest words in the Spanish vocabulary; to call a person un cabrón is the equivalent of calling him a bastard or worse.  Say it to a man's face, in anger, and you are likely to have a fight on your hands; in some circumstances even a knife in your back.
This gives me the opportunity of warning readers who visit Mexico by car that they should refrain from uttering, on their car horns, that famous little musical phrase which perhaps can be represented in Morse -..--/--, as in Mexico it is indelibly associated with this word.  Do it in the presence of a policeman and you risk the maximum fine which can be demanded on a summary basis.  Passing a traffic light at red is far less of an offence.  Since Mexicans are a lively race it is not uncommon for one car to start the phrase and for another, well tucked away in the jam, to complete it for him, both no doubt counting on the light turning green before the cop has time to do anything about it.  [A slangy word for estadounidenses] would be wiser to take no risks (v. also madre).
Una cabronada is the kind of dirty trick that might be played by a cabrón but it can be used of any particularly unpleasant circumstances, much as we (some of us) might use the word 'bastard' to describe the weather, but readers are earnestly reommended not to try.  There is no easier way of making oneself sound ridiculous.
In Chile, the word cabro (without the -n) is a slangy but otherwise harmless word for 'guy', 'chap', 'fellow'.

cacharro (m), cachilla (f). Cacharro was originally a piece of coarse crockery but it has become a useful word for any old bit of junk: ¿Qué voy a hacer con el cacharro este? , 'What am I agoing to do with this (ghastly) old thing?' It is often used of an 'ancient car', a 'jalopy'.
Cachilla also means an 'old car' in the R/P (and if any reader is interested in vintage T-model Fords, Chevrolets, Studebakers, etc. he is likely to find up-country Uruguay a happy hunting ground). Una cacharrería , 'a crockery or hardware shop'. Estar cachondo, 'to feel randy'.

caer(se). 'To fall', yes, but its uses are so idiomatic, and therefore difficult to remember in time, that I emphasize one or two points, even at the risk of repeating what is already in the better grammar books.
Apart from things like rain and snow, which fall naturally, caer tends to draw attention to the end result so that if you say cayó or ha caido you ought instinctively to add some indication of where the thing fell to; caerse is more concerned with the act of falling and where the thing fell from so that you can say se cayó without indicating what happened to it thereafter.
Caer is often used where we employ the verb 'to be'. Esta calle cae in las afueras , 'That street's in the suburbs'; Este pueblo cae muy lejos , 'That village is a long way away.'
Caer en is much used metaphorically for 'to tumble to': No caigo en lo que quieres decir, 'I don't quite see what you mean'; ¡Ah, caigo! , 'I get it!'
Dejar caer, literally 'to let fall', is often assumed to be the Spanish for 'to drop', but in practice it usually means 'to drop deliberately'. 'To drop accidentally' is caérsele (-me, -te, -nos, etc.): Se me cayó , 'I dropped it'; Se le ha caido el pañuelo, 'You've dropped your handkerchief'. This is highly idiomatic and strong mental notes are indicated. [Compare parts of this item with our extensive discussions of caerse . --gw]

Ela (ElaHuguet)

I would say "!Ah, YA caigo!"... I don't think I've heard "ah, caigo" just like that. :)

As to the explanations on "caer", if that's copied directly from the book, I find it amusing that it reflects so well all the discussions we've had about it.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

Would you be inclined to translate "¡Ah, ya caigo!" as "Ah, NOW I get it!"?

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Yes, I might translate "Ah, I get it!" as "ah, ¡lo pillo!"... but, ANY of these expressions have an implicit "now" that I'd be hard put not to stick in.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

café (m). 'Coffee', obviously, but the word means different things to different people and Hispanics drink such a lot of it that they have quite a large vocabulary to cover the different types. Merely to as for un café will eave the waiter confused as to which sort you want. In the more touristy places he may have learnt that most Anglo-Saxions like it with a little mile but a native, asking for this, will probably ask for un cortado (capuchino (Me), marrón (Ve)). Café con leche means coffee with a lot of milk but it is so much associated with breakfast that in some countries (Mexico, Colombia) it will often bring a bun with it. "Black coffee" (the most popular with natives) is un café solo in Spain, un exprés in Mexico and un cafecito in most of L/A (though un negro, -ito (Ve), tinto (Ec Co)). By and large coffee is much stronger in the Hispanic world than in the U.S. There is also a large vocabulary in the field of cortados ; those 'stained' with milk, e.g. manchado (Andalusia), quemado (Santo Domingo), pintado (Co, Ec). [As I do not take coffee it is of little personal concern, but has the rise of Starbucks enriched/complicated the English coffee-vocabulary?]

cagar. Many dictionaries face up to this but their desire to spare blushes makes them use such euphemisms as 'to go to stool' as if it were a word which might be used to a doctor. It most emphatically is not; it equates with 'to shit'. Vis-à-vis the doctor the appropriate euphemism is hacer de vientre .
A contemptuous expression, more or less equating with 'Bugger the ...!' is ¡Me cago en...! for which a euphemism is !Mecachis!

cajetilla (f). A widespread word for a 'pack(et)' of cigarettes.  In Mexico it is the word.  In most countries one asks for un paquete de cigarros but if you do so in Mexico they think you mean a 'carton' (elsewhere cartón).  In the R/P you should avoid the word as it means a 'queer'. 

calamina (f).  'Corrugated iron' in the Z/A.  A road whose surface is 'corrugated' is there called calaminada.  In most countries 'corrugated iron' is hierro ondulado or chapa ondulada (v. chapa), but hojulata is another word for 'tin' in a not-too-precise sense.

caldera (f).  Strictly a 'boiler', but Spanish does not really have a word for 'kettle' and caldera is often used to denote one which has been imported (sometimes caldero).  Pava may also be used, especially in Spain and Argentina; occasionally even tetera--strictly a 'tea-pot' (likewise an imported phenomenon) since this is similar in shape and devoted to the making of tea.  In Mexico 'a kettle' is often called una marmita.  A basic, self-explanatory word is calienta-aguas.

calentura (f). A widespread word for '(high) temperature', when you are ill, though it is perhaps more a layman's word; the doctor himself will probably say fiebre : ¿Tiene fiebre?, 'Have you got a temperature?'; Tengo una fiebre de... grados , 'I've got a temperature of . . . degrees.'
Since most readers will have been brought up on Fahrenheit they may find is useful, even important, to know that 'normal' in Centigrade, is 37 degrees. It is a great advantage to be able to tell the doctor how ill the baby really is , and indeed--if you have had to buy a Centigrade thermometer--to know yourself, so: 39 degrees C = 102 degrees F; 40 degrees C = 104 degrees F (near enough).
Calentura should be avoided in Chile since there tener calentura means 'to be on heat', rather a different matter. They say temperatura , but fiebre would be understood.

califiaciones (f. pl.), calificar. Best regarded as False; the commonest meaning of calificar is probably 'to mark' (exam papers, etc.) and in an educational context calificaciones means simply 'marks'. (Notas may also be used.) When it is a matter of applying for a job 'qualifications' are usually curriculum vitae ; 'What are his qualifications?', ¿Qué títulos tiene? or for humbler jobs ¿Qué formación tiene? (v. formación, título).
Calificar (de) is probably the commonest equivalent of 'to describe (as)': Los críticos califican la obra de atrevida , 'The critics described the work as daring'; Sus amigos le calificaban de loco; 'His friends called him crazy'. 'To qualify for a post', tener los requisitos/títulos para un puesto. 'To qualify' in the sense of 'to modify' is modificar, or 'to tone down', suavizar, atenuar (q.v.)

callarse. 'To keep silent', yes, but it is too strong for politeness. Calle(n)se, por favor, 'Will you kindly keep quiet', would serve for a schoolmaster addressing children but the children themselves will say ¡Callate! 'Shut up!', to each other. If you want to pray silence in a polite way, say: Se ruega (guardar) silencio.

calma (f), calmar, calmo. The verb calmar is fairly Reliable for 'to calm'; it is the adjective calmo which is suspect since it rarely means 'calm'; in L/A it is applied to the land, not the sea, and means 'sterile', 'uncultivated', or 'lying fallow'. Tierras calmas , 'barren land'. (In Spain this would be yermo.) 'A calm sea' is un mar en calma, calma being a noun, but the expression has a rather nautical ring and, for a layman, the usual word for 'calm', whether of the sea or anything else, is tranquilo or sereno. 'Keep calm', No te excites.

cámara (f). By way of being False; it means 'chamber' in a very general sense but its commonest everyday meaning is probably 'inner-tube', i.e. of a tyre/tire. 'A camera' is usually referred to as una máquina (q.v.) though shops aimed at the tourist trade are tending to use cámara and Spanish may slowly capitulate to international usage. The legal expression 'heard in camera', is usually (juicio) a puerta cerrada or even en secreto. 'A chamber' as short for 'chamber pot' is un orinal .

camarero, -a.  Originally a 'room-servant' but now the usual word for 'waiter' or 'waitress' in Spain.  Countries vary in the word they use for this and a list, country-wise, may be o assistance:
Mexico, Colombia:  Mesero, -a (v. also copera).
Venezuela:  Mesonero, -a.
Z/A:  Mozo, -aMozo means 'lad' and buen mozo is a common expression for 'good-looking'.  Moza seemed to me less common for 'waitress' but perhaps this was because waitresses are less common than waiters.
R/P:  Garzón (following the French, as so often).  Joven is almost as common.  'Waitress' was usually Señorita, indeed this is common everywhere for a waitress when one is addressing her personally; the other words are more likely to be used in referring to her.
In most countries it is still possible to attract the waiter's attention with a sibilant ¡Pss!; alternatively with a couple of resonant claps of the hands.

cambiar, cambio (m.)  'Change', 'exchange', as you know, but one or two points deserve attention:  Cambiaropiniones means not 'to change one's opinions', which is cambiar de opinión, but 'to exchange opinions', hence 'to discuss', 'to converse' (v. discutir).
En cambio--'whereas', 'while', 'on the other hand', etc. is very common and certainly warrants a mental note:  Los ingleses dicen 'Sorry' y en cambio los norteamericanos dicen 'Excuse me', 'The British say "Sorry" while Americans say "Excuse me"'.  Natives at all levels of education, will slip in this sort of en cambio without thinking (v. p. 21, Miscellaneous Notes).
Cambiarse can mean 'to change one's clothes', provided the context makes it clear; otherwise you would add de vestido, de traje, etc.  (v. also mudarse).

caminar.  The usual L/A word for 'to walk', 'to go on foot':  Vine caminando, 'I came on foot'.  In Spain they use andar (q.v.).

campana (f).  'Bell'. but of the sort that has a clapper, e.g. church bell, as against an electric one which is un timbreCampanilla, 'handbell'.  It may not seem very everyday but in Mexico City you are likely to hear the wild ringing of a handbell almost daily.  When I first heard it it seemed much to exigent for any sort of 'muffin-man' and in fact it turned out to be the signal that the dust-cart/garbage-truck was approaching and meant, in effect, 'Bring out your dead!'  Shortly afterwards you heard gossiping among the servant girls, on the corner of the street, as they waited by their dustbins/trash-cans for the camión de la basura to appear.

Albert (Albert76)

I wonder if anyone can tell us what the average Hispanohablante would say in translating "to ring the bell" (i.e. the door-bell).  The dicos say "tocar el timbre" but I'm a little suspicious about expressions like that.  And what would the little sign say (the one al lado de la puerta):  it often says “sonnez”  in France and "please ring"  in English.   I guess that "doorbells" are so common in the US that people generally don't feel they need to instruct guests "to ring" them.   So here I don't usually see a little sign.   But I found that in Europe it was common to instruct folks to "ring" the doorbell (even though you don't really "ring" it.  Do Hispanohablantes really say "touch it"?)...

lfm111 (lfm1111)

We say "tocar el timbre" just as we say "tocar la campana".  We don't often write it next to a doorbell (at least here in Mexico), but when we do it's certainly "toque el timbre.
My first reaction when you said "touch it" was: whaaaat?  (I need comments like yours to make me think about the role of words in Spanish, jaja).  Nothing really to do with touching. It's more like playing, sounding, ringing. Remember that we also say "tocar el piano", "tocar la guitarra", etc.

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

Apparently at one time it was possible to use "touch" in this way in English, to refer to what we now call "playing" a musical instrument.  Indeed, it is said (I've not read the book myself) that the following sentence is found in Charles Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit:  She touched his organ, and from that bright epoch, even it, the old companion of his happiest hours, incapable as he had thought of elevation, began a new deified existence. 

Was the double entendre deliberate?  Even if so, it would not have been possible had "touched" not once had in English the allowable meaning "to make a sound with a musical instrument".

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

campo (m.)  If you imagine this means 'camp' then regard it as False (cognate); it usually means 'country', or 'countryside,' and implies open country.  Una casa de campo, 'a country house.' It also means 'field,' both literally and metaphorically:  En el campo de  la medicina, 'In the field of medicine.' In Spain it applies to a 'sports field,' e.g. campo de futbol, de golf, but in most of L/A this would be una cancha.  The Spanish for 'camp' is campamento and 'to go camping' hacer camping, acampar, or, in L/A, sometimes campear.

caña (f.)  In L/A its commonest meaning is probably 'sugarcane,' or else the rather rough rum made therefrom.  In Spain it traditionally meant a small, tube-like glass of cafés where beer is de barril, i.e. 'draught' or 'draft.'

Ela (ElaHuguet)

As to "caña", I'd think the phrase is hard to understand, so in case somebody didn't get it: in Spain, when one wants a "glass of draught beer", you ask for "una caña", the glass being a long tube-like one such as you get for cokes and other refreshments.  Since "caña" means "cane" as in "bamboo cane" (or other cane-type plants), drinking straws are called "cañitas", and the rod of a "fishing rod", "caña de pescar".  "Dale caña" is street-talk for "step on it, give it gas"... actually "caña" has a whole series of street talk uses, but I can't think of the general word (in English) that brings them into being, since they're all related: ¡Que caña de coche! (what a cool car!) Ella es muy cañera (she's very cool/strong-willed/tough). Me mete mucha caña (he/she drives me very hard/tells me off very often).

AMFC3

In Spain we use both "campo" and "cancha". "Campo" for natural fields (with grass or bare ground) and "cancha" for artificial ones (parquet floor, concrete or the like).

So we say:
Campo de fúbol, de rugby, de polo, de hockey, de tenis and so on.
Cancha de tenis, de baloncesto, de balonmano, de padel...

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

So, does a campo become a cancha when the turf is artificial? :-)

I suppose something similar goes on in English, where campo=field and cancha=court.  Indeed, I'm pretty sure that lacrosse takes place on a field while box lacrosse (an indoor version) happens on a court.  Maybe polo is played on a "ground" rather than on a field (but, then, I'm hardly in the circle that plays polo); and while field hockey would be played on a field (what else?), ice hockey is played on a rink.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

canal (m).  Yes, 'canal' or 'channel' (including a TV channel) but can also be used for the lane of a highway and the 'track' on a tape, although pista is another possibility.

canasta (f).  It may mean the name of the card game but basically it is a basket made of wicker.  I have remarked elsewhere that bags, bins, buckets, and baskets are apt to be named by what they are made of rather than by what they are about to receive so that una canasta may be a shopping bag in Chile and a waste-paper basket in Mexico (where a shopping bag may be a canasto).  Cesto,-a is in much the same case.  It is probably not worth bothering much about these little differences.  Equate it with basket, bearing in mind that the wicker-work may be quite pliable, and you should not go far wrong.

DHEMP note:  Ok, natives, how accurate is this, particularly the specific references to Chile and México?

Albert (Albert76)

Could the native-speakers do a little analysis for us of the day-to-day use of the (too) many words that books and dicos tell us mean "basket" in Spanish.   In different books I find "canasta" for "basket" but also "canasto", as well as "cesta" and then "cesto".  The only one I have felt pretty stable about is the use of "canasta" to mean "basket" in Basket-ball parlance but then last week I saw "cesto" used as well in basketball jargon... What is the nuance between each of these four words, or are they interchangeable based on the country?

Ela (ElaHuguet)

As far as Spain goes, it sounds good. Cesta is often used for shopping baskets, by the way, either the traditional wicker ones, or the modern plastic ones.

As to Albert's question, it's difficult to say really, one person can call it a cesta, others a cesto, and yet again other people call the same thing a canasta/o.  In basketball (baloncesto), it is usually called a canasta, but the action of putting the ball through is called encestar.

AMFC3

Quite true!! Isn't it absurd? I guess "encestar" is euphonic while "encanastar" sounds awkward. But "meter (una) canasta" is quite common.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cancelar:  Strictly 'to cancel' but also to 'write off,' hence quite often simply 'to pay':  Quierocancelar esta factura. 'I want to pay this bill.'  'To cancel' is normally anular.

cancha (f).  A 'field' or 'court' where games are played.  In Spain it is mostly confined to a pelota 'court' but in L/A it extends to almost any sort of game:  tennis, football, even golf.  There is a slangy extension of it to mean 'expertise':  Tiene mucha cancha. 'He has a lot of experience.'

cándido.  Borders on being a false cognate; ir means 'simple,' innocent,' 'guileless,' and refers to a person's disposition.  'Candid' refers more to words and would usually be franco or sincero.

cantidad (f).  'Quantity', yes, but it is harder to remember that it also means 'amount', or 'sum', and usually suggests figures.  It is, however, much used domestically where we would say 'lot':  ¡Qué cantidad!  'What a lot!' In short, an all-purpose, all-class word for Hispanics; 'quantity' is slightly more educated for us (see also suma).

cara (f).  Another fairly all-purpose word which has, therefore, far more applications that 'face' in English.  Dictionaries mention most of them and I shall only duplicate their work by mentioning that the English equivalent is often 'side':  La otra cara de.... would be 'The other side of...' anything with two sides, e.g. coins, records, the moon:  Pon en otra cara, 'Put the other side on'.  Also the 'dial' of a clock is cara (In Spain, more often esfera).

Tener cara de is also very useful for 'to look as if':  Tiene cara de haberse pasado la noche de juerga, 'He looks as if he's spent a night on the town'.

methdxman (ConnSeannory)

Another colloquial expression for 'cara' is: ¡Qué cara tienes! or ¡Qué cara tenemos! which means You've got some nerve! and We've got some nerve, don't we?
Also a popular substitute for 'tener cara de' is 'tener pinta de' e.g, 'Tiene pinta de homosexual' which means He looks gay.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

carácter (m), caracteres (pl.).  'Character' (and note that the word is accented on the third syllable in the plural) but the phrase de mucho carácter is very commonly applied to persons and it does not contain the notion of anything comic or eccentric; it implies strong and good character:  Es una mujer de mucho carácter, 'She's a very fine/brave/intelligent/strong-minded woman.'  An amusing, or curious, character calls for tío, caso, or sujeto.  'Character' in the general sense of 'type', 'nature' is índole or naturaleza.

caradura (m of f).  Literally 'hard-face', and meaning a brazenly unscrupulous person, a 'tough egg' who knows what he wants and is not overly fussy about the means of getting it.  'Brazen' is perhaps the best concept but bear in mind that it may also mean 'brazenness', and as a noun it is feminine:  Este tío tiene una caradura imponente, 'That fellow's got the cheek of the devil'; ¡Qué cara más dura!, 'What a nerve!'

DHEMP note:  'cheek of the devil' Love that Brit English.

caramelo(s) (m).  In the singular it may be 'caramel' but in the plural chances are it will mean 'sweets/candies'.

cardenal (m).  To be distinguished from cardinal which is an adjective and applies only to numbers.  Cardenal is a noun and, in addition to the Church dignatary, has the remarkably different meaning of 'bruise'.  I believe that the connecting link is 'purple'.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

It might help to understand "caradura" by knowing a synonym: "sinvergüenza", literally "without shame".  The typical word play on this is "yo tengo mucha vergüenza, ¡no la gasto!" (I have a lot of shame, I don't use it!).

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cariño (m), cariñoso.  'Affection', and 'affectionate', respectively, but both very common and so likely to be needed when you want equivalents for 'to like/be fond of' (persons):  Le tengo mucho cariño, 'I'm very fond of him/like him very much' (it can be used of someone of the same sex).  Ser cariñoso con, is quite a good equivalent of 'to be nice to'.  Both are equally valid for someone of the same or opposite sex.  For fondness for things, see partidario, apreciar.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

And the world-famous "yes, dear", "sí, cariño".

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

carpa (f).  In most of S. America it means 'a tent', which in Spain would be una tienda (decampaña).  In Mexico it implies a 'marquee/big top', and an ordinary 'camping tent' is usually una casa de campaña, though toldo may also be used.  Camping is less common in the Hispanic world, no doubt largely because so much of the terrain does not lend itself, being either too arid or too tropical (risk of snakes, etc.).

carpeta (f).  A Friend of unusual Falsity since not only does it NOT mean 'carpet', but it has very diverse meanings within the Hispanic world.  In Spain and Mexico it means a 'file', of the sort used in offices.  In Peru it means a 'desk' of the sort used in schools (elsewhere caled pupitre) and in Colombia it means a 'tablecloth' (ornamental, not for meals).  I have also heard it used for a 'briefcase'.  A carpet is una alfombra.  'Wall-to-wall' carpet is hecha a medida, 'made to measure', but is often referred to as moqueta.

Albert (Albert76)

Can a NS confirm whether the comments about the word "carpa" etc, published 2-3 decades ago, are still valid?  Is "carpa" still the standard term used by campers for a "tent" in SA?  What term is most frequently used in Mexico as well as in Spain in 2006?  I think I hear "tienda" on TV (local TV channels usually reflect Mexican usage though they apparently try to find broader usage because of the large numbers of Central Americans and Columbians living here plus some Cubans and a small community of Europeans.)  Thanks for any clarification.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

"Carpa" in Spain is used for a circus tent, for example, and "tienda de campaña" for a camping tent.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

carrera (f).  Basically 'career', which is certainly one of its meanings, but it has a wide scope in Spanish and you may perhaps identify it in your mind with things which, in some sense or other, go careering along.  One meaning is 'race'; another is the 'ladder/run' in a stocking.  In some (more or less) rectangular cities, such as Bogotá, it is used as Avenue is in New York, i.e. in contradistinction to Calle; Carrera séptima con calle 75, 'Seventh Avenue at 75th Street' (but I warn visitors to Bogotá no to put too implicit a faith in rectangularity; CarreraTrece starts like life legitimately enough between 12 and 14 but it graduates to Avenida Trece and before it has finished it career is between Calles 20 and 21).

Carrera is NOT the universal word for 'avenue' nor is the numerical system always adhered to, even when official.  A businessman's card, in Nicaragua, gave not only '4 Av. No. 304' (using avenida) but added 'De la Hormiga de Oro 1/2 c.  (media cuadra) a la Montaña' in case the new system might cause confusion.  Without the system addresses can sometimes be wonderfully descriptive, e.g. this from Costa Rica: 'De la primera entrada de los Dioses (a housing estate), 400 varas al sur y 60 al oeste'.

carretera (f).  'Highway, main road'.  It suggests a main road across country; within city limits it would apply strictly to the 'roadway' as oppoed to the sidewalk or pavement.  Note that 'the road to (say) Valencia', is La carretera de Valencia;  one is tempted to say a Valencia.  Obviously the road from a place is the same as the road to it but the de should be understood adjectivally, i.e. the Valencia road.

carta (f).  A False Friend whose acquaintance you ususally make pretty early on.  It means 'letter', and the usual word for a 'card', or 'postcard' is tarjeta.  'Card' in general is usually cartón, 'cardboard'.  Formerly the word for 'playing cards' in Spain was naipes but this, though it survives, is tending to be replaced by cartasCartilla, in Mexico, has acquired the particular meaning of 'identity card'.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Cartilla in Spain is your bank account booklet, and sometimes other booklets (school grades, for example).


DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

And I particulary like leerle la cartilla a alguien, to tell someone off or, as I would likely translate it, to read the riot act to someone.  Is this used in Spain?

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Yup, also used.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cartel (m).  A minor False Friend; to the Hispanic mind it has no connection with big business but means simply a 'poster', or any 'billboard' put up for public display.  No figura en el cartel, 'It doesn't appear in the credits/billing'.

cartera (f).  Literally 'letter-case', but it has acquired more particularized meanings of which the commonest are 'wallet' (for money), and briefcase/attaché case'.  In L/A it is often sued for a lady's 'handbag'.

caso (m).  'Case', obviously, but much used where we have other equivalents:  El caso es (que), 'the fact is', 'the position is', 'the thing is'.

When, as so often happens, you want to say 'in that case', do not forget En aquel caso for a famous case that really happened.

Caso often means not so much 'case' as 'point', especially when used in the negative:  Ése noes el caso, 'That's not the point'.  We frequently say 'That's not the case', as a sort of polite euphemism for 'That's not true', and for this the Spanish is Eso no es exacto/cierto/así.  If you mean 'That's not the point', a more unmistakable alternaive is No se trata de esoNo es elcaso should be distinguished from No hace al caso, which means 'That doesn't help', 'That's beside the point'.

Hacer caso, 'to take notice', 'to pay attention', is very common and idiomatic:  Se lo dije pero no me hizo caso, 'I told him so but he didn't take any notice/didn't pay attention'.  If the non-taking of notice is deliberate then you need hacer caso omiso, desconocer or desoír (see also ignorar).  If it means failure to realize, see (no)darse cuenta de.

Un caso, applied to a human being, is a surprisingly Good little Friend; it means, rather facetiously, 'a case' for the doctor, the law, or the psychiatrist:  Eres un caso, 'You're a case/piece of work'.

castellano (m).  'Castilian', obviously, but it is the all-but-universal word for the Spanish language.  You are much more likely to be asked:  ¿Habla Vd. castellano? than ¿Habla Vd.español? even in countries where their version of the language is far from good Castilian.

DHEMP comment:  I know that this originally was written just shortly after or, assuming no revision, during the era of Franco and the suppression of the Spanish languages other than castellano.  Still, it seems a bit jarring to me to see castellano called the all but universal word for "the Spanish language" (as if there were only one).  .... "for the language commonly called Spanish" might be closer to it.  I don't know the relative numbers for usage of español vs. castellano among all NSS, but I don't often hear a Mexican use the term castellano to refer to Mexican Spanish.  Among my Argentine friends the usage is mixed.  One told me that she uses castellano exclusively for political reasons but another was not even sure that I was correct in referring to her language as castellano.  She had to look it up and then accepted the usage.  And they live only about 100 miles apart, both in La Pampa province. 

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Of course, I don't know really about LatAm usage of "castellano" (I have heard Argentinians use it, but I think you're right that Mexicans don't so much), but in Spain it is used extensively for several reasons: one is that it's a lot easier to distinguish Spanish (something from Spain) from Spanish (the language), which I find awkward on this forum sometimes, when speaking in English, and I'd solve in no time writing in Spanish, by using "castellano" instead, being pc it avoids using "Spanish" for the language spoken in other countries; another is that it allows for more languages to be "included" in Spain, by giving them each a name with no reference to Spain in general, so you have "castellano, catalán, gallego, etc.".  Our grammar books in school are usually called "libro de lengua castellana", not "libro de español".  A note: when I say "castellano", and I think this extends to the majority of Spanish natives, I have NO mental image or reference to the origin of the word, no "Castilian Spanish" pops up subconsciously, it is just the name for "the language otherwise known as Spanish", so I feel easy in saying "yo soy española, tu argentino, y ambos hablamos castellano" or "los dos hablamos castellano, pero yo también hablo catalán, y tu vasco".

Gary Williams (williamsg471)

The only data point I can add to this discussion is that I once heard an Ecuadorian woman speak of "buen castellano."  I remain uncertain as to whether in this case "castellano" simply referred to the language as a matter of course, much as I would say "good English"; or whether it was more of a fixed phrase referring to the highest level of the language, much as I might say "the king's English".

--Such grammar!  Don't you know the Queen's English?
--Well, of course she is.  Otherwise she couldn't be Queen.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

castigar.  Our use of the verb 'castigate' is almost confined to lashing with the tongue or pen and for this censurar or atacar are perhaps more likely in Spanish.  Castigar is the everyday word for 'to punish', and some sort of physical action is usually implied (though rarely lashes) but I have heard it used metaphorically (in L/A) in such phrases as ¿Pues por qué nos castigana nosotros? 'Well, what are they taking it out on us for?

castizo.  This curious adjective dreives from casta, 'caste' (in the Indian sense), and means, literally, 'castey', much as we derive 'classy' from class.  I believe it was originally applied to the language spoken at Court and it has come to mean something like 'from the Royal Mint', 'authentic', 'the genuine article', particularly in connection with language, i.e. what a native really would say in given circumstances.

In particular connection with Madrid, castizo has applied in the past to a way of speaking which, Madrid-wise, is supposed to represent the real McCoy, though it is far from being the kind of speech spoken at Court; it is rather in the same category as the original Cockney spoken in London, but now rapidly disappearing.

In L/A they, too, have their words for what is uniquely theirs and they are fully conscious of what authentically belongs to the place.  In the Rio Plate the word is likely to be criollo, sometimes autóctono; in Mexico perhaps more often lugareño or típico but these words are not confined to the use of language; in this matter they, too, are likely to say castizo.

casual, casualidad (f).  Casualidad may be regarded as a false cognate as it simply means 'chance', or a 'chance happening', with no sense of an unfortunate accident:  Le encontré porcasualidad, 'I met him by chance'; ¡Qué casualidad!, 'What a coincidence!', 'How extraordinary!'  'Casualties', in a war context, are likely to be referred to as bajas or heridos (wounded) and in a hospital as accidentados, the Casualty/Emergency Department being labelled Emergencias or Urgencias.

Casual is more reliable for 'casual', provided this means strictly 'chance', e.g. 'a casual encounter', un encuentro casual, but it cannot be extended to mean negligent, off-hand, unconcerned, informal, etc., which would have to be handled by informal, vago, or despreocupado.

categoría (f). 'Category', certainly, but the adjectival phrase:  de categoría is extremely common and is the usual way of saying 'high-ranking', high class':  Es una persona de mucha categoría, 'He's a VIP, a big shot'.

católico.  In the Hispanic world this almost invariably means 'Roman Catholic', and they do not use it with a small c to mean universal, e.g. a man of 'catholic' tastes.  They do, however, have a slightly facetious use of it, negatively, to mean 'not very good':  El tiempo no fue muy católico.  'The weather wasn't very good', the inference presumably being that what isn't Catholic can't be good.

catre (m).  'Cot', yes, but it can be applied informally to any sort of 'bed' if you happen to feel somewhat deprecatory, much as we might say 'pad'.  In nautical circumstances it is likely to mean a 'hammock'.  In the R/P they are fond of catrera, used in the same way.

caucho (m).  Strictly means: 'rubber' in the general sense, but is widely used in L/A for a 'tire/tyre'.  It refers to the outer case/shoe.  In the Z/A a word used for 'rubber' or 'elastic' is jebe.

caución (f).  Almost deserves to be called a false friend since, if a Hispanic means 'caution' he will almost always say precauciónCaución is a much more physical object:  it means 'pledge', 'security', something deposited as a guarantee (see also enganche).  Fianza is another possibility.

cebarse, cebador (m).  Cebarse is a common verb in Mexico for 'to go wrong', 'to turn out badly':  Se me cebó, 'It didn't work.' I didn't succeed'.  El cebador in the R/P is a car 'choke'.  A word for 'to turn out badly', much used in S/A, is malograr(se).

cebiche (m).  This, which you will often see on menus, particularly in the Andean zone, is not a dish but a way of preparing it.  A great many fish and mariscos are sprinkled with the juice of a lemon (sometimes  orange) so that the flesh turns white and is then ready to eat.  According to the locals the juice 'cooks' the fish.  The exact recipe varies from country to country and each considers its own superior.

cédula (f).  The Spanish spelling of 'schedule', but although it has a variety of meanings, e.g. 'warrant', its commonest everyday meaning is 'identity card', particularly in Colombia and Venezuela.  Foreigners do not usually need them since their passports serve the same purpose.  In Mexico an identitity card is usually una cartilla, in Spain una carta de identidad, in Chile un carnet.

celebrar.  'To celebrate', certainly, but one can celebrate something within the quietness of one's mind:  Celebro esta noticia, 'I welcome this news'; celebro su conducta, 'I applaud his conduct'; Celebraba las ventajas de vivir in el campo, 'He was singing the praises of the country life'.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

In Mexico an identitity card is usually una cartilla, in Spain una carta de identidad, in Chile un carnet.

In Spain it would be "carnet de identidad", actually, or if you take the official name, D.N.I.: "documento nacional de identidad" (but nobody goes around calling it the "documento de identidad" really, just "DNI")

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

celeste.  'Celestial', yes, but it usually means 'light blue'.  The musical instrument is unacelesta.

cemento (m).  Strictly 'cement', but roughly applied in L/A both to concrete and to glue.  'Glue' is properly cola.

central (f).  As an adjective: 'central', but it is also noun for any 'central administrative building', including both a power station and a telephone exchange (see also conmutador).

cerilla (f). - o (m).  Cerillas is the usual word for 'matches', in Spain, and cerillos in Mexico, both so called as they are made of cera --wax.  The technique of striking them without mishaps takes a little acquiring.  Elsewhere matches are called fósforos, a word which will always be understood.

césped (m).  The proper word for 'lawn', but other words are used in various countries: pasto (Mex, R/P), prado (Andean zone), grama (Ven).

chance (m or f).  Taken from the English and means 'chance', in the sense of an 'opportunity' or 'break'.  Its use is at present confined to L/A; in Spain they would say oportunidad.  It would seem to have been picked up in different countries independently as it is usually masculine in the Caribbean and feminine in the Conosur.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

As a point of interest, "grama" is also a type of lawn in Spain, a courser grass than the higher-class "césped".

Albert (Albert76)

Just wondered if a NS would care to comment on the word "chance", as mentioned above.  I hear it fairly often here in Texas but it bothers me (in the French of my child-hood in Canada "chance" was also used with the sense of "opportunity" and we were told endlessly that it was an anglicism and we should not  use it.)  So I've been pre-conditioned not to use it in Spanish.  But a lot of folks around me do....

If it is used, what is the best pronunciation?  Like the English, or with the final "e" pronounced?  Thanks again.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

If you notice, Cassell's says it's used in LatAm, not Spain... I only hear it from immigrants, it's not used at all by natives from Spain, it sounds Spanglish to me.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

I have thought of it as at least an anglicism and maybe Spanglish.  Interestingly, the DRAE says that the Spanish chance comes from the French chance, not from English.

Albert (Albert76)

Far be it from me to question the DRAE... but I can't help but wonder if they're correct as to the origen of "chance" in Spanish.  The French word "chance", when used correctly, means "luck" (as in Spanish "suerte") and, in this usage, can sometimes come close to the meaning of "ocasión" or "oportunidad" in Spanish but it's not exactly the same.  An example: "I had the good luck to meet Bing Crosby before he died..." (J'ai eu la chance de faire la connaissance de Big Crosby avant qu'il meure")  There you're referring to "luckiness" and not to "opportunity".  But if you wanted to say "I had the opportunity (or I had the chance/occasion to meet...) you would normally use "J'ai eu l'occasion de..."  So it's hard for me to see French as the origin for "chance" the way I hear it used in Spanish.  A bit of a stretch...

I would think that its wide-spread use in the border towns along the Rio Grande comes from English influence... But maybe there is a French connection... The fact that the DRAE does cite it (I just checked) in the sense of "opportunity" or "possibility" leaves me reflective and "un poco perplejo"...

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

chapa (f).  The best basic concept is a 'metal plate' but one needs to cast one's net remarkably wide to catch some of its more particularized meanings.  In the R/P una chapa may mean the 'number/license plate' of a car but chapas may mean 'small change', the metal plates, in this case, being coins.  In the R/P, too, they have the expression poner la chapa meaning 'to be the best at everything' (presumably the image is that he will shortly be putting up a brass plate on his door).  In Spain a common meaning is 'bottle-top', but unchapista, 'a tinsmith', is the man who knocks out dents in car bodies.  In the Z/A unachapa means one of those metal door-handles which have their keyhole in the middle so that the knob is simultaneously a handle and a lock.  In Mexico it simply means a 'lock', without any implication of handle, though cerradura is a universally understood word for 'lock'.

Chapa ondulada is fairly widespread for 'corrugated iron', but un techo de chapa, 'a tin roof', is clear enough colloquially (see calamina).

charla (f), charlar.  Both these words, plus our own 'charlatan', come from an Italian word meaning 'to babble', 'to talk too much' (the quacks of the past were evidently notorious for their sales talks).  Charlar is therefore a slightly derogatory word for 'to talk', hence 'to gas', 'to gossip', 'to chatter', 'to natter', etc. but bear in mind that, when one speaks of one's own activities one may often use a self-deprecatory word out of modesty.  Una charla therefore means 'a talk'; in private circumstances 'chat' or 'gossip', but in a university, simply an 'informal talk', something less august than a conferencia, and on the radio it is becoming so identified with a 'short talk' that this may even be announced as una charla in advance.  In the past it would have seemed a little insulting to the speaker to have introduced him with such a term.

chaval, -a.  A common colloquial word in L/A for 'child', perhaps 'kid'.  There are many other such words: chamaco, -a (Mexico), pibe (R/P), patojo, -a (Guat.), nene (R/P, Spain), guambito (Col.).

bandini22

I have never heard "charlar" used outside of College Spanish, where it was presented and given the same weight as "platicar" which was very misleading.  I hear "platicar" used daily but never the other.

chaval, -a
I have to inteject something here, also.  The feminine form "chavala" carries with it a slightly negative connation that I have not encountered in it's male counterpart.  It's hard to put in words because it's something that you just feel, but it is often used to describe a young female that is more or less a shallow, self-absorbed twitt.  I made the mistake of refering to my stepdaughter once as a chavala, and Mom became more than a little upset with me, yet could not put it into words just exactly why.  Like I said, the dictionary say that it just means young girl, but there is more to it than that.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Great info, bandini.  I had not heard that about chavala, but it does not surprise me.  I wonder if the word had the same slightly negative connotation at the time that the author compiled his dictionary.  FWIW, my wife said that she did not find it at all derogatory, but in her NE Mexican (Nuevo Leon) family the term was never used.

As for charlar, my wife and her sisters use the word in preference to platicar, but roughly equivalent.  My Argentine friends use charlar only to refer to internet chat.

Grant (NewdestinyX)

"Charlar" is also widespread in Madrid. Used very much over 'platicar'.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

chévere.   A common word for 'smashing', 'terrific', 'fabulous', etc. in the Caribbean region.  I am told that it originated in a Cuban song title.

chicha (f).  Originally an Amerindian drink made from the fermentation of maize chewed in teh mouth and still so made in really upcountry Andean places but although the name survives, the recipe is different in more populous places.  In Chile it is usually grape juice at one of the earlier stages of fermentation (but still pretty alcoholic); in Costa Rica it is not even alcoholic.  It is simply un jugo-- a soft drink.  Readers are advised to make enquiries locally before embarking on a session.  Quite often it is a name given to some sort of 'claret cup' brewed by one's hostess shortly before the party, not unlike the Spanish sangría and usually pretty innocuous, but one can never be sure.

DHemp note:  For those like me who did not know, a claret cup is a chilled drink made of claret (Bordeaux red wine) mixed with soda, fruit juices, brandy, and sugar.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Chavala in Spain is also innocuous, and both (chaval/a) are much used. :)

Chicha in Spain means "meat/substance", tengo chicha en la barriga (ie. I have rolls in my stomach/slightly overweight), esta chuleta tiene mucha chicha, dejémonos de tonterías y vamos a la chicha del asunto.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Some more uses of chicha from Espasa:

  1. f. col. Carne comestible.
  2. de chicha y nabo loc. adj. col. De poco valor o poca importancia:
    al final, la recepción fue de chicha y nabo.
  3. no ser algo ni chicha ni limonada loc. col. Estar poco definido o no servir para nada:
    su cargo no es ni chicha ni limonada.
    Coloquialmente se pronuncia ni chicha ni limoná.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

I've always liked that expression, "ni chicha ni limoná", something like "neither hot nor cold", but with more rythym or poetry somehow, hehe.

MiFaDa1

My wife and her family use chavalo and chavala and it just means young male or young female. They are from Central America.

 <<I am told that it originated in a Cuban song title.>> I believe chevere is Quechua and it is quite common in the Andes.

MiFaDa1

I think for many Central Americans chicha also means female breast. Dar la chicha is to breast feed a baby. It's a slang term I suppose.

Edited: I looked it up on google to give you a reference.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chicha&defid=1242184

1. chicha

A friendlier word for a feminine breast.

lfm111 (lfm1111)

"Carpa" is used for "camping tent" in Lat Am, although "tienda de campaña" is also understood.

BTW, it's "Colombians," not "Columbians"

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Well, chicha certainly turned out to be an interesting word.  Lots of meanings that Cassell's did not cover.  Let's see what the next entries can stir up.

chico, -a.  The usual word for 'small', 'little', in L/A.  In Spain they use pequeño but even there chiquitito, the double diminutive, is normal for 'teeny-weeny', 'minute'.

As a noun, 'boy/girl', but mostly rather older boys and girls; a kindly old lady could say Es un chico muy simpático, 'He's a very nice boy', of a man of 50.  In Spain it is used a great deal for 'guy', 'chap', 'fellow', and much used in exclamations:  ¡Pero chico! 'But my dear chap!'  ¡Chico! by itself often indicates simply surprise, in the same way as ¡Hombre!

En chico is often the equivalent of 'small size':  e.g. in a record shop where ¿Tiene enchico? is likely to mean 'Do you have it in 45 rpm?

DHemp note:  45-rpm record!?  Yes, Cassell's is a bit dated.

chifa (f).  A Chinese restaurant in Peru

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

chimenea (f).  Bordering on a False Friend since, although it does mean a 'chimney', it suggests to a native an 'open fire' or 'hearth'.  These are not usual in Hispanic countries but something that looks like a fireplace is often installed, even in hot countries, for what might be called snob reasons; it looks good, and lends 'cachet', but if you tried to light a fire there you would probably set the house on fire.  On the other hand, genuine hearths are often installed, say, in Bogotá, not four degrees from the equator, since the altitude can make a fire very welcome in the evening.  In the R/P a genuine 'fireplace' is often called una estufade leña, as the fuel is nearly always wood.

chinche, chincheta (f).  Una chinche is strictly a 'bed-bug' but both words now mean 'thumb tack'/drawing pin'. 

Dhemp note:  OK, pardon my ignorance, but what is a drawing pin?

lfm111 (lfm1111)

It's a pin that you draw with,, of course

(Joke, joke, I have no idea)

banderas4 (pirate309)

what is a drawing pin?

My Websters says....... THUMBTACK...British usage

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Thanks, banderas.  Actually, I had looked it up before posting but was surprised that I had never heard the term.  I think that I learn more British English from Cassell's than I do Spanish.  :)

ErnestChris (ErnestChris1)

If a drawing pin is used to pin a drawing to the wall I suppose a thumbtack is used for tacking a thumb to the wall!!!

Ela (ElaHuguet)

In Spain, an "estufa de leña" is like this:

http://harrisons.cl/images/AMESTI%20Estufa%20L%20RONDO%20450.jpg

So, a real "wood stove" in other words.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

chingar.  A very rude but very common word in Mexico and thereabouts; you should avoid using it though you can hardly escape hearing it.  One is obliged to equate it with 'to f**k', but I fancy it is rather commoner and, as usual with such words, it is most used in senses other than its basic one, mainly revolving around frustration, molestation, and booze.  Those interested in pursuing its subtleties may read The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz, or The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes.

DHEMP note:  Octavio Paz has written long dissertations on the use of chingada, chingar, and related words.  Just google chingada.

banderas4 (pirate309)

the vulgar words

In one of my college classes the prof would bring in a list of about 20 slang words every class and we were to find the meanings.... this was just before the internet. So many were words that I could never see myself using, but the younger ones kept saying, "yeah, I've heard this...." Your word of the day was about the top of the list as far as frequency and shall we say -- versatility? There are a lot of people who cannot frame one sentence without using it....

bandini22

In many cases (but not all) you can substutute "fregar" so as to soften it up a little.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

chino, -a.  In Spain, it would mean 'Chinese', and might mean this anywhere, but it is evidently a Quechua word as well and in L/A some other meaning is more likely though this will vary from place to place.  Most often it has implied some sort of mestizo (what with black, white and bronze, and male or female parents of any of these colors, the range of permutations and combinations is considerable) but it can also mean 'young', 'servant', 'low-class person', 'concubine' and various colors (no doubt following color of skin).  In Mexico it usually means 'curly-haired'.  My muchacha in Bogotá told me her husband had gone off with  una china and I understood this as meaning a 'young girl' but feel no certainty about it; in the R/P it would probably have meant simply 'a woman'.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

chisme (m).  A 'piece of gossip', and much used in the plural:  Cuéntame los chismes, 'Tell me all the gossip'.  In the singular it is used for something you cannot remember the name of, hence 'thingummy-bob', 'what-you-may-call-it':  ¿Tienes el chisme ese?, 'Have you got that whatchmacallit?'

chiste (m). 'Joke', but of the sort that is told, a 'funny story'.  A 'low (or off-color) story' is un chiste verde or, in Mexico, un chiste colorado.

MikeDerk (DerkMike)

Thing-a-ma-bob.

I'd love to know all the words for this: el coso, el cosito, ... my El Salvadorean mechanic the other day used something like "chingalinga" (I don't think it was "chirimbolo" -- it definitely was feminine)...

If anyone wants to post there word, that would be great.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

El trasto, el chirimbolo, el cacharro, el chisme, el como-se-llame, el coso, el cachirulo, el bicho... el chirimbolation (Eng. ending), el trasting (this last is my own personal word for it, hehe).

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

chocar, choque (m).  False Friend; chocar does not mean 'to shock', but 'to collide', and un choque, 'a collision': Choqué contra un camión, 'I ran into a truck'.  In L/A you will often hear Me choqué for 'I had a crash'.  Both imply collision with a solid object; if it is with a pedestrian the words needed are atropellar ('to knock down') and atropello.

Our verb 'to shock' is usually metaphorical and the Spanish for this is escandalizar.  For the milder 'to startle', see susto, also impresión.  We handle physical shock via the noun but even here 'The shock of the collision' would be El golpe del choque and for 'shock' in the medical sense Spanish uses the English word:  'He was suffering from shock', Estaba en shock.

Chok is quite a different matter:  it is the English word 'choke', in a car context, which they have adopted in the Z/A up to Venezuela.

chófer, chofer (m).  The Spanish form of 'chauffeur'; it denotes a 'driver' who wears a uniform, whether private or a 'bus-driver'.  Conductor is a more usual word for 'driver' but you will often see Alquiler sin chófer as an advertisement for 'self-drive' cars.  In L/A it is accented on the second syllable and so carries no written accent.

chomba, chompa (f). 'Jumper', i.e. the garment.  One might imagine that the Spanish word is an imitation of the English but there is a strong case for thinking that it may be the other way around, i.e. a Quechua word picked up by sailors about 100 years ago and passed to us by them.  It usually means one with an open neck and buttons or zipper.

chop, schop (m).  Taken from the German Schop but usually pronounced chop.  It normally means 'stein/mug' of beer but in countries where they specialize in wine, such as Chile, you can have a chop of wine.  I fancy it is cognate with the old English 'stoup':  'Get thee to Yaughan.  Fetch me a stoup of liquor' (Hamlet).  In the R/P they call it una manija, because it has a handle.

chorizo (m).  A characteristic Hispanic salami-type sausage made of pork and usually a deep orange-red color.

chota (f).  A vulgar word for the police in Mexico.

christmas (m).  Not quite what you might think; it means a Christmas card.  Tengo que enviarle un christmas, 'I must send him a Christmas card'.  Sometimes spelled cristmas or crismas.

chucha (f). Another Amerindian word with a great variety of meanings in different countries, some of them quite respectable, e.g. in Guatemala, where chucho, -a means 'dog/bitch'.  It should be avoided in most of the Z/A, particularly in Chile, since there it is a the coarse word for the female organ.  Any word beginning with chu.. is likely to be a little suspect in the Andean region; chumbo, in Colombia, means the male organ.

chupar.  'To suck', yes, but also used metaphorically, and a little slangily, for 'to accept (something unwelcome)' or surprising; e.g. ¡Chúpate esa!, 'How do you like that!, 'Wince that off!', 'Put that in your pipe and smoke it!'

Wince that off!??   Hmmm, another new one for me.

Albert (Albert76)

Is it really the case that chófer is pronounced chofer (accent on the second syllable) in Latin America?  I hear the word used on TV and it sounds like the accent is on the first syllable...  Maybe I'm just not hearing the word as it's pronounced.

Also, is the "driver" of a taxi called a "chofer", and what about the driver of a bus.  What about a truck driver?

AMFC3

In Spain:

Taxi driver --> chófer (but also "conductor")
Bus driver --> conductor (but also "chófer")
Truck driver --> camionero (but also "conductor)

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

churro (m).  Roughly speaking 'doughnut', but there are differences.  In Spain churro is sold virtually by the yard, though in the better cafés you will be given short lengths of it.  Perhaps this is why, in Mexico, it is a slang word for a 'bad film' but in much of L/A they have conformed to the U.S. pattern and now produce them ring-shaped, sometimes even calling them doughnuts or donuts (usually pronounced dona).  The more or less spherical doughnuts usual in Europe, where they exist in L/A, are usually called berlinas; in Spain rosquillas.

Albert (Albert76)

If you've never eaten a "churro mexicano"  you don't know what the word "yummy"  means.  My first taste of a churro was at a street vender's stand in Olivera Street during a visit to Los Angeles.   I was smitten...  Here in Dallas you can get churros in the "La Azteca'  chain of panaderias and at church street fairs etc.   They are golden-brown on the outside and a little uncooked on the inside (the uncooked inside can make them a little sloppy/chewy but they're yummy anyway)-   usually they're covered with cinnamon and sugar...  After you've had a "churro"  you'll never be satisfied with a "donut"  again...

Buen provecho

bandini22

I'm sure it's not proper but in U.S. / Mexican Spanish they say "trailero" for truck driver. 

lfm111 (lfm1111)

Yes, it's "chófer" in Spain and "chofer" in LatAm (same goes for "cóctel/coctel").

In the Western Hemisphere, you'll also hear "conductor," (which sounds more "uppity"), as well as other local terms, but "chofer" will work for all types of drivers (bus, car, taxi, etc.).

lfm111 (lfm1111)

"Churros" are originally from Spain, though they're sold throughout Latin America.

I live in Mexico City and didn't know that there were "Mexican churros".  If they do exist, they must be just an adaptation of the Spanish original.

MikeDerk (DerkMike)

Que sepa yo (as far as I know), churros mexicanos son rectos, y churros en España son redondos.

Me acuerdo también de los buñuelos en México, que eran muy delgados -- como papel. En otros países, son como almohadas: gordos y llenos de aire.

lfm111 (lfm1111)

Ooopsss, the churros I know are long. They're not unique to Mexico, and are sold, with some variations, throughout LatAm.
I've never seen a round churro in my life!!!!!!
Hope the Spaniards can enlighten us on this.

Churro

De Wikipedia

Chocolate con churros

Chocolate con churros

Comida típica española que consiste de una masa compuesta por harina, aceite, azúcar y sal, a la que se introduce en un aparato parecido a una manga repostera, por donde sale convertido en tiras cilíndricas de un dedo de grosor aproximadamente que se fríen en aceite y una vez hechos, a veces, se rebozan en azúcar. En Sevilla, se les llama "calentitos" (también se les llamaba "masa frita"), en Jaén "tallos" y en Granada "tejeringos". Sin embargo la palabra "churro" ha terminado desbancando las denominaciones locales.

En Argentina son habituales los churros rellenos de dulce de leche. En Madrid es costumbre desayunar chocolate con churros, esto es, churros bañados en chocolate caliente. En México, los churros son más gruesos y se les espolvorea canela y se considera un postre. En Estados Unidos, se encuentran en circos, parques de diversiones, y otros festivales. Generalmente se venden los del estilo mexicano. También en partes de Andalucía se comen los tejeringos o llamados también ruedas de unos 10 cm de diámetro, que si se piden para llevar se pueden insertar.

pickypuck

Where I live...

Taxi driver = taxista.

Bus driver = conductor de autobús but also "autobusero"

Ela (ElaHuguet)

We also have donuts, so maybe that's what's confusing you, and our donuts are round with a hole in the middle (I think Am. donuts are like a bun?), and then we have churros which are stickish, the cross-section looks like a star, and then in Madrid they have "porras" which I think are "churros" really (I don't know what variety though), but the Madrileños swear by them and miss them when they're over here, LOL.

lfm111 (lfm1111)

Now we're really beginning to confuse things, hahahha.   Doughnuts (or donuts) come in both shapes in the US, but IMO the traditional format is the one with hole in the middle....The bun-shaped ones usually come with a filling. 

Wikipedia gives the following "possible history":

Possible origins

Doughnuts have a disputed history. One theory is that they were introduced into North America by Dutch settlers, who are responsible for popularizing other desserts, including cookies, cream pie, and cobbler.

Another story credits the invention of the doughnut hole to a Danish sea captain named Hanson Gregory. During a particularly violent storm, Gregory needed both hands free to man the wheel of his ship, and impaled a fried cake upon the wheel, creating the signature hole. The center of fried cakes were notorious for being undercooked, so the innovation stuck. By cooking fried cakes with the center hole, the surface area increased, and the doughnut cooked faster.

A possible origin, has the dessert's invention as part of the story Channukah. Called sufganiyot, Jews make these pasteries (and other oily foods like latkes) to remind them of the sacremental oil that was used to light the six-branched Menorah in the Temple, the one untampered jar of which, lasted for eight days . . . just enough time to travel and obtain more.

pickypuck

<<(I think Am. donuts are like a bun?)

Según lo que nos vende Panrico en España así es :P

http://www.americandonuts.es/

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Well, I guessed that "hole-filled" (LOL) doughnuts weren't unknown in the US, but from what I've seen in movies, series and so on, they aren't very commonly shown... so maybe Mike was discounting them altogether, hehe.

En cierto modo, sí, es lo que nos vende, pero creo que es más una distinción de tipo "donuts de cualquier sitio" contra "donuts americanos", o sea, rellenos.  Claro que, donde se ponga un donuts de chocolate tradicional...

MikeDerk (DerkMike)

Nosotros gordos somos muy especificios con nuestras doughnuts. Redonda con un agujero: doughnut. Pequeña y como una bola: doughnut hole. Como un bollo: a filled (claro que era una filled doughnut, pero ahora no -- decir los dos palabras nos agotaría). Creo que hay "filleds" con nada adentro. También, cruller, fritter, twist...

lfm111 (lfm1111)

En México se dice y se escribe "una dona"  (ya que estabas hablando de la adaptación de términos extranjeros al castellano...)

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cierto.  On the face of it 'certain', but there are traps; it has become almost synonymous with 'true' so that, if you use it in the negative, imagining that you are saying 'that's not certain', you may find yourself accusing someone of lying.  You might say Eso es incierto, and if you added todavía your meaning would be understood but the adjective which Hispanics spontaneously use is seguro:  'It's not yet certain', Todavía no es seguro.

¿No es cierto? is a useful phrase for 'Isn't that so? and will equate with any of that infinite set of question tags (haven't we, aren't you, don't they?, etc.) which English so cruelly demands of foreigners, but mostly when the tag really is a question demanding an answer.  Alternatives for this are ¿No es así? or ¿No es verdad?  We tend, however, to slip in such tags without thinking and largely to indicate that we are being (or trying to seem) reasonable; in these cases, if a Hispanic says anything at all, he will probably say simply ¿No?

Churro certainly triggered some interesting discussion.  Other than doughnut, which to me most definitely has a hole in the middle, does anyone else refer to most pastries as sweet rolls?

MikeDerk (DerkMike)

>> most pastries as sweet rolls? <<

The word would never cross my mind.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Lo he oído antes, y siempre me hace gracia como han transcrito el sonido de la última sílaba (en lugar de adaptar el "nut" a la pronunciación nuestra) al español.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cigarro (m).  By now one may reasonably call it a false cognate since in these days it almost invariably means 'cigarette', not 'cigar', which is puro.  Una cajetilla de cigarros, 'a pack of cigarettes'.

cimiento (m).  It looks like cement but the Spanish for this is cemento and cimiento means 'foundation'; los cimientos are 'the foundations' of a building.  Cimentar, 'to lay the foundation', whether literally metaphorically.

cinta (f). 'Ribbon', 'tape', 'band', as you no doubt know.  Here it is the turn of Spanish to have an all-purpose word where English subdivides according to type.  If you have to specify, then cinta de máquina, 'typewriter ribbon'; cinta magnetofónica, 'recording tape', even cinta adhesiva for 'adhesive tape', although this is usually just escotch in L/A.  In Buenos Aires, among the top people, it is the OK word for a 'film', i.e. a movie, and in those circles película is considered rather low class.

circulación (f). Would normally mean 'circulation' but is often used to mean 'traffic', though tráfico is tending to supersede this.

claro.  Strictly speaking 'clear', but you will hear it used twenty times a day as an adverb equating with 'of course' or 'obviously'.  According to the tone of voice it can mean anything from 'Why, you poor lamb!  Of course you were right!' to 'Obviously not!  You great twirp'  (Obviamente, though it exists, is never heard in conversation.)  Between these two extremes it can often be muttered as an occasional, confirmatory response to something one is being told.  In Chile and Peru it is used so much as almost to have replaced .

If you want to say 'Obviously', initially, as opposed to responsively, then the device is Claro está que...:  Claro está que no quise que me viese, 'Obviously I didn't want him to see me'.  (For other possibilities for 'obviously', see luego, supuesto, naturalmente.

Ed_Luciano

In NY circulación never had a chance against tráfico. Circulación implies that something is moving and traffic rarely involves any kind of movement whatsoever.

On TV in Puerto Rico, tránsito beats tráfico (when talking about the roadways) because it's a false anglicismo.

Obviamente, on the other hand is alive and kicking in the Caribbean conversation.  Obviamente ese autor nunca ha ido a Puertorro.

Albert (Albert76)

I wanted to add a comment about "obviamente" used to translate "obviously".  I hear it in conversation here in Texas all the time.  Also hear it on TV.  I realize that in some situations "está claro que" is a better choice or "es obvio que"  But is "obviamente", used commonly, a possible anglicism?

Ed_Luciano

I never understood how using a word that comes from Latin directly becomes an anglicism. Obviamente yo no sé lo que es un anglicismo. The way you and I hear it is how millions of people in two Spanish speaking countries say it. Here's what the DRAE say says about the word and that's how I hear and understand the word.

obviamente.
1. adv. m. De manera obvia, sin dificultad, sin duda alguna.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

Albert (Albert76)

I may have been a little unclear in the way I used the word "anglicism".  Sorry.   I wasn't referring to the meaning of the word "obviamente" but to the frequency of it's use in parts of the US (based on Cassell's statement).  Some English-speakers use "obviously" all the time, instead  of "of course" or "naturally".  I wonder if "obviamente" is used a lot in Texas because "obviously" is used a lot in Texas...

Ed_Luciano

Yeah. That's kind of a hard thing to define.

Domincans in New York say "factoría" for 'factory' which is a word that comes from Latin. They also say "carpeta" for 'carpet' which is another word that comes, ultimately, from Latin, but which took a great deal of twists 'n turns before it ended up in Washington Heights.

Obviamente se debe al inglés. ¿Por qué? Bueno, porque en Santo Domingo la gente dice "fábrica" y "alfombra".

But some words are kind of hard to peg. I was told by someone that "evacuar un edificio" was an anglicismo. Well, in English they say "evacuate a building" and this speaker said "desalojar un edificio" so it was obvious to that speaker (from Mexico) that it was English's fault. But it's not an anglicismo at all and many speakers who hate anglicismos will tell you that there is nothing "contaminated" about "evacuar un edificio." The dictionaries will tell you the same thing. It's Spanish from Latin. Blame the Romans!

English has a great deal of Latinate terms and there are borrowings from French it has in common like train/tren, baby/bebé, etc. Sometimes we just say things the same out of mere coincidence. The lexicon is very similar. Did I write similar instead of the same because of Spanish? It's a witch-hunt that never ends. The obvious borrowings jump out at you. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Albert (Albert76)

I was raised in a French-speaking town in Western Canada and the "anglicism" issue is one that I dealt with throughout my education...    I was one of the few kids in town that also spoke English which made me more vulnerable to English turns of phrase and vocabulary.   I was rapped across the knuckles more than once  for using  what  were called "anglicisms"  and consequently I'm probably a little sensitive to their use in Spanish too.  I can still feel my knuckles stinging...  Oh well...

BTW  I've heard the phrase "evacuar el edificio"  used on Univision News a couple of times.  I jotted it down in my vocab book...

Ed_Luciano

C'est de la politique. It's also bad business. French lent English 70 percent of its vocabulary. It's high time you got some of those words back! There is a book about the few that you did called Honni soit qui mal y pense : L'incroyable histoire de l'amour entre le français et l'anglais by a charming French linguist called Henriette Walter. It's a great book and fun to read. Very informative without putting you to sleep.

I find some anglicisms downright ridiculous but I think you will too. Those are the ones you avoid. They're not hard to spot. The real danger is limiting your vocabulary because you're hesitant to incorporate suspected English words into your vocabulary. You get into the position of inspecting words like some Nazi bureaucrat looking into someone's family tree trying to find a trace of impurity and that's not a what learning a language is all about. It's about openess and diversity. At least that's what I think.

P.S. A lot of it is regional. I found it odd that Spaniards say "cambiarle el chip al móvil" for what Dominicans say "cambiarle la tarjeta al celular." ¿Móvil? ¿Chip? What's the matter with them? I didn't realize we get "tarjeta" from Old French or that "celular" is clearly an American calque. Es la paja en el ojo ajeno. And if we want "our own words" for this stuff we would be better served by inventing  more stuff a little more and complaining about words a little less.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cliché (m).  Spanish shares with English the metaphorical use of this word for a time-worn idea or group of words but is more conscious of its original French typographical meaning 'to stereotype', 'to print off', so that cliché most often denotes something physical, the most everyday being a 'wax stencil', and a 'film negative'.  I have heard it used of a glass lantern slide but the usual word for this is una diapositiva.

closet (m).  The final t is rarely pronounced so you may not immediately recognize it, but it does mean 'cupboard', of the built-in variety, in most L/A countries (see also placard and armario).

coba (f).  Dictionaries mostly give this as 'small talk' but in practice it usually means 'flattery', and dar coba a alguien, 'to toady', 'to suck up to', 'to ingratiate oneself with'.  Uncobista, 'a toady'.

cobija (f).  Basically an 'outer covering' but it is one of the commonest words in L/A for a 'blanket', though frazada is also widespread.  In Spain 'blanket' is manta.

Ed_Luciano

Clóset, es una palabra llana y como es una palabra que está incorporada en el idioma lleva una tilde sobre la o. Es también otra palabra latina disfrazada:

[Middle English, private room, from Old French, diminutive of clos, enclosure, from Latin clausum, from neuter of clausus, enclosed]

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Thanks, Edwin.  I just rechecked Cassell's and they do not use the tilde.  But a quick check of three dictionaries confirms your assertion that the majority usage is as a llano, not agudo.

Ed_Luciano

There might be a good reason your Casell doesn't have the accent and it has nothing to do with how the word is pronounced. This is what the RAE people say about spelling words that come from other languages:

En las palabras de otras lenguas que, por su falta de adaptación a la nuestra, escribimos con letra cursiva o entre comillas (es como deben escribirse las palabras de otras lenguas que no estén españolizadas), así como en los nombres propios originales de tales lenguas, no se utilizará ningún acento que no exista en el idioma a que pertenecen. Ejemplos: catering, Aribau, Windsor.

Si se trata de voces ya incorporadas a nuestra lengua o adaptadas completamente a su pronunciación y escritura, habrán de llevar tilde cuando lo exija la acentuación del español: Ejemplos: búnker, París Támesis.

It might be that at the time of its publication, clósetwas considered too foreign to have an accent. (What an odd sentence:foreigners generally have an accent!) I have a book about spelling published in 1989 that also spells it "closet" without the accent. (Alvarez del Real, María Eloísa (ed.) Cómo escribir sin faltas de ortografía. Panamá: Editorial America, 1989. )

LOL! In Spanish, you have to earn that accent mark! I'm so glad that clóset got its stripe. Congratulations clóset! Enhorabuena!

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cobrar.  A curious but very common verb for which we do not have an exact equivalent so that its use takes a good deal of acquiring.  Basically it means 'to recover' something owed, but in an everyday context it means 'to be paid', 'to get paid', 'to take the money', 'to collect what is due'.  If, on payday, someone says Voy a cobrar, it will mean 'I'm going to draw my pay', and any day Voy a cobrar este cheque,  'I'm going to cash this check', but it can be used negatively and interrogatively as well:  No ha cobrado todavía, 'He hasn't come for the money yet', could be said of the milkman.  In a colectivo taxi it is a daily occurence to hear somebody say ¿Quiere cobrar?  to the driver, while holding out the money, and here it is hard to think of an English equivalent:  I suppose we should simply say 'Here you are!' if we said anything at all.  It can even be used imperatively; in my early days I once saw a young woman being goaded, a little teasingly, by a male acquaintance into paying him some money she apparently owed him until finally, in exasperation, she seized her handbag, took out some money, thrust it at him and hissed ¡Cobra!  For a moment I thought she was calling him a snake but she was merely saying 'Take your **** money!'

Another common use of cobrar equates it with 'to charge':  Le cobran veinte dólares por elpasaje.  'They charge you 20 dollars for the journey'.  As with all words for which we have no equivalent, its use is best learnt by the direct method but mental notes are certainly indicated.

El cobrador is, in a general sense, the man who collects the money and, in a London bus, would be what we call the 'conductor'.  There is a wonderful source of confusion here, partly because conductor means 'driver' and partly because, in most of the Americas, the driver and the 'conductor' are the same person.  'The ticket collector' on a train or the occasional inspector who hops on a bus to make sure you have bought a ticket is likely to be called el revisor or, in L/A, el controlador, since it is not (normally) his business to collect money.

Una cobranza, literally 'a recovery' (seen from the point of view of the payee) is the usual commercial word in L/A for 'payment'.  In Spain they say cobra.  It is the obverse of pago.  What is paying-in for one party is paying-out for the other.

AMFC3

Una cobranza, literally 'a recovery' (seen from the point of view of the payee) is the usual commercial word in L/A for 'payment'. In Spain they say cobra.
---------------------------

Not really, we say "cobro" (and, in some contexts, "cobranza" too).

Another meaning of "cobrar" is "to get punished". For instance, you can say to your kids:

- Como no os portéis bien, vais a cobrar.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Thanks to AMFC3 for his response about cobro vs. cobra.  After checking several dictionaries, I have reached the conclusion that Cassell's had a misprint and that cobro (collection) should have been listed.  I have not found a listing for cobra that implies collection, other than as a declined form of the verb cobrar.  Here is what the RAE lists for cobra:

cobra1.
(Del lat. copŭla).
1. f. Coyunda para uncir bueyes.
2. f. Cierto número de yeguas enlazadas y amaestradas para la trilla.

cobra2.
(Del port. cobra, culebra).
1. f. serpiente de anteojos.

cobra3.
(De cobrar).
1. f. Cineg. Acción de buscar el perro la pieza muerta o herida, hasta traerla al cazador.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cocer, cocinar.  Dictionaries are bound to give you both 'to cook' and 'to boil' for cocer and cannot readily make clear that cocer means 'to cook (something) by boiling'.  'To cook', in a general sense, and by any means other than simply boiling, is cocinar or guisar.  'To boil', in a general sense, though particularly in the sense of 'to bring to a boil', is hervir.  (Hiérvase is a common imperative in recipes for 'bring to a boil', and Está hirviendo, 'It's boiling.) 

The Spanish for 'on the boil', or boiling point, is ebullición (and in recipes, again, Llévese aebullición, revolviendo de vez en cuando, 'Bring to a boil, stirring from time to time'.)  Not many things in Hispanic cuisine are cooked simply by boiling so that the word cocidos usually occurs in connection with eggs.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Not many things in Hispanic cuisine are cooked simply by boiling so that the word cocidos usually occurs in connection with eggs.

Wow!! That was unexpected. We have oodles of cocidos!

MiFaDa1

<<...............the word cocidos usually occurs in connection with eggs.>>

Not in my household either where my wife and mother in law do most of the cooking and this word is well worn. In my household cocido is much more commonly heard than asado.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

jejeje, well I figured that the Hispanic-cocidos comment from Cassell's would bring some rebuttals.  I thought about commenting myself.  What the heck is Hispanic cuisine anyway?  A totally meaningless term.  My wife's Tex-Mex cooking does not in any way resemble the boiled foods that I have enjoyed in, for example, Galicia or Chile.  But in our house anyway, much more asado or guisado rather than cocido, at least for meat or seafood.

MiFaDa1

LOL, it is kind of meaningless term. In my house many dishes start by boiling meat or chicken and then shredding it(disminuido) THEN making a sauce adding vegetables and cooking some more and served with rice. If you ask them to name the dish and they don't have a name for it they'll tell you 'carne cocida/pollo cocido con salsa inglesa/tomate/crema acida etc etc etc etc........... But they use carne asada quite a bit as well but with chicken it is planchado(a la plancha) which I would call grilled in English, I'm getting hungry, ha!

Albert (Albert76)

My wife  (of Czech immigrant stock)  was born and raised in South-Central Texas in a time when Hispanics and the Czech/Anglo farmers lived separate lives  (sadly)  except for food  (both groups influenced the other).  My wife's version of Tex-Mex cooking includes many boiled/cocido type dishes.

One of my favorites (which my wife calls "Cowboy stew")  but her Dad (who died recently in his 94th year)  called "pooch" (his version of "puchero")  was a kind of stew made in a large stockpot,  with potatoes and squash,  pieces of beef  (including some parts of a cow that my Canadian ancestors would never have touched...),  plus pieces of fruit and anything else available.  After it was "cooked"  (boiled)  the broth was "slurped" as soup and then the meat and vegetables were eaten separately.   When I first went to visit Hispanic friends in "el Valle"  (the "Rio Grand valley"  that runs along the Mexican border")  I discovered that they had a similiar dish and everyone called it "puchero"...   That was the origen of my father-in-laws word for it ("pooch")...

I've seen it in rather elegant forms but usually it's like a hearty stew...  A great dish in the winter...

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cocina (f), cocción (f).  La cocina is 'the kitchen' buy may sometimes mean 'the kitchen stove' (originally short for cocina económica).  It is also the word for 'cookery' in general and for 'cuisine'.  The cooking of a particular meal or dish is la cocción (given by one well-known dictionary as 'coction'!)  which may sometimes be found in recipes in the sense of 'cooking-time', e.g. Cocción--dos horas.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

coche (m).  Originally a 'coach' or 'carriage', but now the normal word for 'car' in Spain and the R/P, to some extent also in Mexico, though the last also shares carro with the rest of the Caribbean region.  A 'coach' in the sense of a long-distance bus, is usually autobús.

In Guatemala, where a car is usuallly un carro, coche had come to be the usual word for 'pork', no doubt short for cochino

Cochera (f), traditionally a 'coach-house' is the usual word for a domestic 'garage' in Mexico, though in Mexico City itself they mostly prefer the more universal garaje.

coctel (m).  Less often a 'cocktail' than a 'cocktail party'.

coger.  In Spain, this is such an all-purpose verb that it almost rivals the  English 'get', which is, in fact, one of its meanings:  Cogí un taxi, 'I got a taxi'; cogí frío, 'I got cold'; ¿Cogiste otra botella de ginebra?, 'Did you get another bottle of gin?  'To catch' is another and woud fit the first two examples, though it also applies to catching a ball, Coger una pelota.

Other very common meanings are 'to get hold of', to take hold of', 'to grab', 'to seize', or simply 'to pick up', the context making clear which English equivalent is the most likely: Cogió el teléfono, 'He picked up the phone', but in some circumstances could mean 'She seized the phone'.  Equally ¡Cógelo! could mean 'Catch!' with reference to something about to be thrown; 'Pick it up' with reference to something on the floor, and even 'Dive down and get it' to something at the bottom of a pool.  It extends to more metaphorical uses, e.g. coger velocidad, 'to pick up speed'; coger fuerza, 'to gather strength'.

It seems remarkable that so common and useful a verb should have fallen into disgrace in the R/P and be slightly suspect in much of L/A but it nevertheless remains a fact and visitors to Argentina and Uruguay are earnestly entreated not to use it since to their ears it equates with 'to f***' (see also concha).  There they have to resort to other words.  Agarrar is perhaps the commonest equivalent for 'to catch', e.g. a ball, but tomar for catching trains, buses, etc.; conseguir for 'to obtain'; atender for 'to answer/pick up' the phone.  They mind less about recoger which is their normal word for picking flowers, nor does the adjective cojo, 'lame', seem to worry them unduly though they tend to prefer quilla for 'cushion', elsewhere cojín.

In Mexico the word has suffered less contamination but is nevertheless not so everyday as in Spain.

AGX83

SPAIN: coger fuerzas, velocidad

L/Am: agarrar fuerzas, velocidad???

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cojín (m). 'Cushion', but in L/A often used for 'pillow', though this is strictly almohada.  To some extent it depends on the shape; cojín suggests a square one and almohada oblong and these considerations are often stronger than the use to which the pillow is put.  Cojín seemed to me commoner in Mexico, however, even when the pillow was not square.  In the R/P 'a cushion' is usually una quilla.

AMFC3

In the R/P 'a cushion' is usually una quilla.
-------------------------

Uhm... Sorry; what does R/P stand for? [puzzled]

lfm111 (lfm1111)

River Plate (Río de la Plata)

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Yeah, sorry, Cassell's uses its own set of abbreviations.  I was writing in Rioplatense before but lately I have been careless and let that R/P slip in there.

cojones (m. pl.).  Thanks largely to Hemingway, many Anglo-Saxon readers will be confident that this is the Spanish for 'guts' (basically testicles) and had therefore better be warned that it is distinctly vulgar and not a word for scattering lightly about one's conversation, especially in mixed company.  Cojonudo, equally vulgar, means approximately 'terrific', 'bloody marvelous', etc. but again is much too strong for the average foreigner to risk making a fool of himself with.

NSS:  what think you?  Is cojones still as vulgar as the author claims?  Its colloquial use in English (balls, guts) is, in my opinion, no more than a bit off-color.

cola (f). 'Tail', yes, but also 'line/queue'.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

NSS:  what think you?  Is cojones still as vulgar as the author claims?  Its colloquial use in English (balls, guts) is, in my opinion, no more than a bit off-color.

No, it's definitely stronger in Spanish, but "guts" in Spanish would be more literally "agallas", which is harmless.

lfm111 (lfm1111)

And it's even stronger in LatAm than in Spain. 
Around here the word is understood but seldom used (it's considered crude and is used only in very, very informal conversation)

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

colectivo (m).  As an adjective, 'collective', but as a noun, in L/A it means a 'collective taxi', i.e. one which anyone may enter, provided there is room, and pay a fixed fare for a given distance.  They are quite respectable, vastly cheaper than ordinary taxis, and very nearly as quick.  In some countries, however, e.g. Argentina, un colectivo simply means an ordinary 'municipal bus'. 

In Mexico 'collective taxis' are usually referred to as peseros, since a peso used to be the fare for a ride.  In Venezuela the official title is por puesto but within Caracas people mostly talk of going by carro or carrito; in Puerto Rico they are called carros públicos.

In Colombia colectivos are not usual in the big cities but they are very usual for long-distance so the word has a slightly different image there.  Flota is also used for this.

Note:  Since the doors are opened and shut so often, most drivers of colectivos are very sensitive about having them banged and will often upbraid you severly if you do so.

colegiadoColegio, especially in L/A, has much the same force as 'college' in the U.S., i.e. a school of higher learning, and the adjective colegiado has therefore been coined for application to people who have pursued higher studies, e.g. Ofalmólogos colegiados, 'Qualified opticians' (Guatemala).  In Spain it means 'belonging to a professional association.'

collar (m).  Almost a false friend; its normal meaning is 'necklace', although it can also mean a dog collar.  An ordinary shirt collar is un cuello.

OK, some help please.  I was not familiar with the word colegiado but don't have much trouble with what is written above.  I will add another usage that I came across, colegiado can mean a referee in sports.

Cassell' uses colegio, though, as the equivalent of an institution of higher learning, which in the U.S. would be a college or university.  Most references that I have seen state that colegio is the appropriate translation for what we would call a highscool or secondary school.  Opinions?

Albert (Albert76)

Here in Dallas where Spanish is definitely influenced by Mexican  and C/A usage,  the  word "colegio"  (my observation)  seems to be a catch-all term,  more of a synonym for "escuela"  in a very generic sense.   It is not used much to describe the American "college".    I've heard "ir al colegio"  used of eight-year olds going to elementary school.

 On the other hand,  "la preparatoria"  is almost always used for "High school", i.e.  the four years of secondary school PRIOR to the University level.

 Finally, even though "college"  is common usage for local  Anglos when they speak of what  my Canadian ancestors called "University"  or "Uni",  most Hispanics here use the term "universidad".   I don't know if this follows correct usage in other countries but it's what I hear here...

MiFaDa1

I agree with you.

If I remember correctly from my time in Sevilla they used "escuela" for primary school and "colegio" for high school. I have never heard(that I can remember) "colegio" used by itself to mean what we would call here in the USA as a 2 year Jr. College or 4 year University. I have heard it used with other words such as "colegio electoral" when refering to the results of the last USA presidencial elections on TV and in newspapers. My wife and her family(Nicos) say "la primera" for elementary school and "la secundaria" from high school. It seems like that is mostly what I heard in South America as well. But Im not a native speaker, let's wait and see what the natives say.

Grant (NewdestinyX)

In Spain it's:
COLEGIO -elementary school
INSTITUTO - middle & high school
UNIVERSIDAD -college & university
CONSERVATORIO -- colleges for the arts

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Colegio, as noted by others, means "school" in Spain (not high school, though, that's "instituto", as Grant said), but "colegiado" does mean qualified or "belonging to a professional association", which ALSO includes qualified referees.

lfm111 (lfm1111)

I agree with the rest.
In LatAm, "colegio" is a generic term for "school."
In some cases, however, "colegio" is used for institutions of higher learning ("El Colegio de México") or for professional associations ("El Colegio de Abogados de Lima").

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Thanks to all for the clarifications about colegio.  It appears that Cassell's definition is a bit out of line with the collective opinion.

colocar.  One of the verbs which it is difficult to remember to use.  You no doubt know that it means 'to put in (its) place', and if the maid said to you La ropa está colocada you would understand easily enough what she meant, but would you have remembered to say Tiene que colocar esta ropa (en su sitio) when asking her to put it away?  The essence of the meaning is 'to put something where it belongs', 'to find the appropriate niche for'; in an office context you might well say Está colocando las fichas (en el archivo) of a secretary who is putting the cards into the card-index.

A metaphorical extension is in the matter of jobs; colocar can mean 'to find (somebody) a job', and la colocación is the 'job' itself.

Colocar is also common in recipes:  Coloque al fuego una cacerola con un litro de agua. 'Put a saucepan containing a liter of water on the stove'.

colonia (f).  'Colony', yes, but often used of the 'higher-class suburbs' (see suburbios).  It has a further meaning which is not immediately apparent.  If, in a shop, you saw the notice, Colonia a granel, what would you understand it to mean?  Answer:  "Loose or bulk" Eau de Cologne, Colonia being short for Agua de Colonia, which is so popular in Spain that you can even buy it by the pint; bring your own bottle (see granel).

colorado/ a.  Literally 'colored', but unless some other color is specified it means 'red'.  Una camisa colorada, 'a red shirt'.  A colored shirt is una camisa de color if it is all of one color and de colores if it is muti-colored.  Ponerse colorado, 'to blush'; poner colorado, 'to make (somebody) blush'.  In Mexico 'a bawdy story' is un chiste colorado; elsewhere unchiste verde.

coma (m & f).  A good friend only if you watch the gender; when masculine it means 'coma', and when feminine 'comma'.  Comillas are 'inverted commas/quotation marks', and entre comillas is a common expressioin for 'in quotes'.  Coma (f) also means 'decimal point':  Dos coma seis, 'two point six (2.6)'.

comida (f).  'Meal', certainly, but in all Hispanic minds it tends to be associated with the main meal of the day and since this can be at different times in different countries it can equate to 'lunch', 'dinner', or 'supper'.  The official names for the meals, desayuno, almuerzo, and cena, are universal but there is variation as to which is regarded as the most important.  In Spain, Mexico, and the Conosur la comida normally means 'the mid-day meal'; in the Andean zone --perhaps because the climate is hotter-- it means 'the evening meal''.  'Mid-day' is, however, a somewhat relative term; in practice it is usually about 3 p.m.

For the evening meal cena is a shade more august and in many countries will suggest a meal in a restaurant, though cenar is pretty general for 'to have the evening meal'.

comisaría (f).  For us the word 'commissariat' has no very precise meaning, except perhaps as a facetious term for the catering department; for a Hispanic it has a very clear meaning indeed:  it means the 'police station'.  On board ship it means the 'Purser's Office', and the 'Purser' himself is usually el Comisario.

como.  Fairly well attended to in dictionaries and grammars but I mention a few points that may have been overlooked:

¿Cómo...de...? is a common way of rendering:  'How...(adj)?: ¿Cómo es de largo?, 'How long is it?  (see also tan).  This can lead to such telescoped sentencs as:  ¿A cómo está de Madrid?, 'How far is it to Madrid?'

Así como is given in many dictionaries as 'as soon as', but in my experience a far commoner meaning is 'as well as', 'in addition to', and, particularly in business letters, 'together with': ...así como una copia de nuestra respuesta, 'together with a copy of our reply'.

¿Cómo? is the commonest way of asking somebody to repeat something just said.  ¿Qué?, 'What?', is very blunt and ¿Cómo? a great deal gentler as well as more castizo, although it does imply an easy equality of status (and takes an accent!).  Used with ser it is the equivalent of 'What...like?'  ¿Cómo son los mangos?, 'What are the mangoes like?' Como siempre is the stock phrase for 'As usual'.

For more precise querying or challenging what someone has said, the device is Cómo que...? and again it is gentler; ¿Cómo que no? is far less abrupt than 'What do you mean, no?', more like 'I don't see why not.'  If the Mad Hatter's tea party had taken place in Hispanic circumstances, Alice, when she appeared, would probably have been greeted with ¡No cabe! ¡No cabe! for 'No room!  No room!' and I feel sure that a Hispanic Alice would instinctively have replied ¿Cómo que no quepo? whereas Lewis Carroll made her say 'There's plenty of room!' and would probably have felt it rather unbecoming for her to have said 'What do you mean, no room?'

Without question marks Como que is useful for 'seeing that': ¡Ya lo creo que le conozco,como que he estudiado con él', 'Certainly I know him, seeing that I was a student with him' and it is often used to introduce a sentence as a sort of equivalent of, 'It looks as though...': Como que van a legalizar el divorcio, 'It looks as though they are going to legalize divorce'.  The latter is the sort of remark likely to be made when the speaker is assuming (if only for politeness) that his hearer will have read the news too.  It is perhaps commoner in L/A but even in Spain quite a usual form of sentence employs como with the Subjunctive when envisaging a possibility: como vengas tarde te quedas sin cenar, 'If you are late you won't get any dinner'.

¡Cómo no! is a very common expression, especially in L/A.  It seems to mean 'Why not?' but in practice is usually a politeness equating with 'Certainly', 'Of course', etc.  It can, however, be used as a sarcastic 'Of course', and then equates with 'Typical!', 'Just what you'd expect!  'He would!', etc.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Very good perspective on "como", but: ¿A cuanto está de Madrid?, 'How far is it to Madrid?'

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Thanks, Ela, for the correction on the como post.  It's not the first error that we have found in Cassell's.

cómodo, comodidades (f.pl.).  False friends.  The Spanish image is quite different.  Cómodo means not 'commodious', but 'comfortable', and comodidades therefore means '(creature) comforts'.  The Spanish for 'commodities' is géneros or mercancias.  A house or hotel will advertise itself as having muchas comodidades, not merely 'comforts' but 'facilities', e.g. constant hot water, underfloor heating, air-conditioning, a swimming pool, etc.  In earthquake zones one comodidad is contrucción asísmica, 'anti-earthquake construction.'

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

completo.  It may mean 'complete' but another likely meaning is 'full-up' or 'full-house'.  A long-distance bus in which all seats are bookable and no standing allowed will be completo as soon as all the seats are sold, and establishments which are 'full-up', e.g. a parking garage, are likely to put up a notice saying COMPLETO.

Por completo is a very common adverbial phrase and probably the best equivalent of our 'absolutely'.  You may say completamente but por completo is rather stronger as well as being more castizoSe arruinó por completo, 'He was absolutely ruined'.  It is, however, strictly adverbial; if the 'absolutely' is merely an intensifier then completamente is needed, e.g. 'absolutely useless', completamente inútil. (see also absoluto).

complexión (f.).  False friend.  The English applies only to the face and the Spanish equivalent of this is el cutis or la tezComplexión applies to the whole person in a physical sense and so equates better with 'build':  Un hombre de complexión fuerte, 'A man of powerful build'.

composturas (f. pl.).  The usual word in Mexico for 'car repairs' (though they do also say reparaciones).  In this they are consistent since their word for 'to break down' is descomponerse and 'a breakdown' is una descompostura.

compras (f. pl.).   'Purchases', but the usual word for 'shopping':  Tengo que hacer unas compras, 'I've got some shopping to do'.  Ir de compras, 'to go shopping'; Fue de compras, 'She's out shopping/She went shopping'.

comprensivo.  Unreliable to the point of being a false friend; it means 'understanding', 'comprehending', not 'comprehensive'.  El jefe fue muy comprensivo, 'The boss was very understanding (about it)'.  'Comprehensive' would have to be de gran alcance or del máximoalcance, according to the extent of the comprehensiveness (see also envergadura).  A 'comprehensive policy' (insurance) is A todo riesgo.

comprometer, compromiso (m).  Unreliable; the Spanish is chiefly a stronger form of 'promise'.  Un compromiso is a standard word for a 'promise', 'engagement', 'commitment', even an 'appointment':  Tengo un compromiso para las once, 'I have an appointment at eleven' (though cita may also be used).

Equally, comprometer means 'to promise' in a rather formal and weighty sense, hence 'to engage (to)'.  In my early days I once read a magazine article which offered a good example of this False Friend; it concerned a young man who was anxious to get married and therefore went to see a lady who had several marriageable daughters and pleaded his suit.  The following rather arresting exchange then took place: 

Lady: Mis hijas están todas comprometidas.  Young man: ¡Qué desgracia!

Comprometerse is useful for 'to commit oneself', 'to undertake (to)':  Me he comprometidoa pagar cien dólares, 'I've undertaken to pay 100 dollars', and there is nothing sinister about it.  If you wanted to say 'The minister was seriously compromised', you could say seriamente comprometido but it would only be the seriamente which implied the sinister.

'To compromise', in the sense of coming to an arrangement which will work, though it involves some sacrifice, is probably best handled by transigir, though arreglar will often do for less formal and more personal arrangements.

Albert (Albert76)

 One question I do have that Cassell's  doesn't clarify (though he touches on it)  is the use of "comprometido"  in the sense of "engaged to be married".   It's hard to figure out if the American/British/European concept of "getting engaged"  has a clear counterpart in some areas of Latin America where one's  "novio/novia"  really has the status of a "fiancé".    I guess this  distinction  is getting blurred here in the US as well  but I'm curious,  nonetheless,  if you can say  "Mi hermano acaba de comprometerse con su novia"  (My brother just got engaged to his girl-firend)....  Would that be standard usage?  Or does it sound funny?

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

concepto (m).  'Concept', yes, but also 'idea', 'notion', even 'opinion'.  I mention it chiefly for its commonness.  'Concept', for us, is rather an educated word whereas concepto is frequently on the lips of the most ordinary Hispanic workman:  Tiene el concepto de que es todo una trampa, 'He reckons the whole thing's a racket'.  I feel sure it is commoner than idea, which is the word most likely to occur to us.

concertar.  A common verb meaning 'to make arrangements', 'to come to an agreement', 'to make an appointment', and much used by secretaries who have to make an appointment for the boss in his absence.  In L/A I have heard it used for less serious appointments:  Hemos concertado ir al cine con Luis, 'We've arranged to go the movies with Luis.'

AGX83

Na, it's fine. :)

(Yahoo.es) Resultados 1 - 10 de unos 6.600 para se comprometió con novia.

and AFAIK, comprometido/a = fiancé(e)

AMFC3

and AFAIK, comprometido/a = fiancé(e)
-----------------------------------------------

Just a little correction: "prometido/a"=fiancé(e)

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

concha (f).  'Shell', i.e. of a crustacean, but also a girl's name, when it is short for Concepción.  Most irritatingly for the ladies concerned, it has, in the Conosur, become the vulgar word for the female genitalia and is suspect in much of L/A for this reason.  If you know a girl of this name in these countries it is safer to call her Conchita as this is somehow less blatant.  In the Rioplatense, which is where it matters most, when they find themselves obliged to talk about shells they use such words as coquilla or even caracol (snail), though people seriously concerned with natural history will use concha just as people seriously concerned with dogs will freely refer to bitches.

concretar.  'To define', 'to make concrete'.  In English we have the adjective 'concrete' for metaphorical uses, e.g. concrete proposals, but we do not extend to a verb.  If we did we should find it very useful and concretar is very useful in Spanish though it is not necessarily colloquial:  Yo quería concretar este asunto, 'I wanted to get this matter fixed up'.  It can also mean 'to summarize', e.g. at the end of a lecture:  Vamos a concretar los puntos principales, 'Let us summarize the main points'.

Concretamente is a useful adverb for 'in short', 'in a word', 'in fact', 'more precisely', 'to cut a long story short', etc., and is used a good deal in conversation.  After a long discussion someone is a likely to say Pues concretamente..., 'Well, the long and short of it is...'.  In the negative:  Pues no sé concretamente, 'Well I don't exactly know'.

concurrencia (f), concurso (m).  Both words border on false friend and juxtaposition may help to point them up:

Concurrencia is literally a 'running-together', but of quite a different sort from our 'concurrence'; it means a 'gathering' of people, and in practice is often another word for 'audience', i.e. the people who have 'run together' to hear you speak:  ¿Hubo mucha concurrencia?, Were there many people there?  'Concurrence' would have to be conformidad or acuerdo (see also asistencia).

Concurso also is a type of running-together and sounds as though it ought to mean concourse but in fact has quite a different image; it means 'contest', or 'competition', e.g. a beauty contest.  Quizzes on the TV are called concursos.  'A concourse' is una concurrencia.

condescender.  False friend; it means: 'to acquiesce', 'to be obliging', 'to submit', and condescendiente, 'obliging', 'submissive', 'complaisant'.  It is not a very common word; I include it because of its Falsity.  'To condescend' is dignarse, 'to deign to':  No se dignavenir a visitarnos, 'She doesn't condescend/deign to come to see us', but there is no corresponding adjective; you have to manage with the verb.

Albert (Albert76)

I'm trying to get my mind around what Cassell's says about the adjective "condescendiente".  What I seem to understand is that it is a "false friend"  when and if you apply it to a person directly  with the meaning of "he/she looks down his/her nose at you".    In other words,   to translate "My neighbor is very condescending (desprecia a) to immigrants"  you can't say "Mi vecino es muy condescendiente con..."

 But apparently,  according to some of the dicos that I checked,  you can use "condescendiente"  (with the English meaning of "looking down your nose at")  if you use phrases like "tiene un actitud condescendiente"  or  "no me gusta su sonrisa condescendiente".   What I'm  concluding is that you can't   (or shouldn't)  say "El es condescendiente"  if you want to imply that "he looks down on others who, he feels, are not as good as he is"  but, conversely, you CAN describe his attitude or smile  and use condescendiente as a modifier and you'll end up with the English meaning.  

Am I getting it?  Or is Cassell's over-stating the meaning of "condescendiente"?  Is it a true "falso amigo"?

Ela (ElaHuguet)

I agree with you, I think Cassell's goes to far in his description of it as a "false friend".

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

condición (f), condicionarCondición in the singular equates farily well with 'condition' but, in the plural, can take on some more particularized meanings.  One is 'ability':  on a school report you may see Tiene condiciones pero no trabaja, 'Has ability but doesn't use it'.  En condiciones means 'in working order', and poner en condiciones, 'to make (to) work', hence 'to mend', 'to repair', 'to set right'.

Condicionar means 'to determine the nature' (of something), hence 'to govern' (in a metaphorical sense):  La calidad del material condiciona el precio, 'The quality of the goods governs/determines the price'.  'To dictate' is another possibility.  For 'to condition', in the sense of 'to put into condition', acondicionar is indicated:  'air-conditioned' --con aire acondicionado (clima artificial is also used in L/A).

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

conducir.  Distinctly unreliable if you think it means 'conduct', though it would serve for 'conduce', should you need that word.  By far its commonest meaning in practice is 'to drive' (a car).  'To conduct' in the musical sense is dirigir.

Conductor is equally unreliable; the only context in which it equates with 'conductor' is an electrical one and its normal meaning is 'driver'.  For the British bus 'conductor' see cobrador and guarda.  'The conductor' of an orchestra is el director or el maestro.

confección (f).  By and large may be regarded as False since it does not mean 'sweets' but 'textiles', especially in dress- or suit-making establishments, usually for ladies but also for gentlemen.  Una confección is 'a dress or suit' (ladies' fashion magazines sometimes refer to a particularly choice one as a confection).  It can, however, be used for almost anything that needs to be 'made up'; in a Spanish tourist office I saw Confección de kilométricos, 'Kilometric/mileage tickets made up'.

conferencia (f).  Unreliable to the point of Falsity; its commonest meaning is 'lecture', of the sort given in lecture halls, though in Spain it is also used for a 'long-distance telephone call'.   In L/A it may be used to mean 'interview'; Tuve una conferencia con el jefe, 'I had an interview with the boss', but it is not the usual word for 'a meeting', which is reunión or junta.  'A conference' of the large-scale type would be un congreso.

confianza (f). 'Confidence', yes, but readers should be conscious of the useful adjectival phrase, de confianza, meaning 'trustworthy', 'honest'.  Es una muchacha de confianza, 'She's an honest girl/woman', usually said of servants though it can be said of anyone who is to be trusted in given circumstances; El/Ella es de confianza (indicating someone present), 'You can speak freely in front of him/her'.

conforme.  Strictly an adjective meaning 'in agreement', but used a great deal by itself to mean 'I agree', or interrogatively 'Do you agree?' Estar conforme, 'to be in agreement'.  De acuerdo is used in much the same way.

congelador (m).  Literally, 'freezer'; usually the ice compartment within a refrigerator.  A 'deep-freeze' unit for long-term storage is una congeladora.

sendai90210

In Argentina:

taxi: taxista
remís: remisero (a "remís" is a unmarked taxi that you reserve in advance)
bus: colectivero (short-distance buses are "colectivos")
truck: camionero (I think)

You can also use chofer for any of these.

A "chomba" in Argentina is a polo shirt, and any shirt without a collar is a "remera", including t-shirts.

cobrar.

They always teach us to say "la cuenta, por favor" when we're in a restuarant (which is fine), but an good idomatic alternative is "me cobra(s)?".

coche (m).  Originally a 'coach' or 'carriage', but now the normal word for 'car' in Spain and the R/P

Actually, in R/P they say "auto".

¿Cómo? is the commonest way of asking somebody to repeat something just said.  ¿Qué?, 'What?', is very blunt

Here's how it breaks down IMHO:
¿Cómo? = Pardon? somewhat formal
¿Qué? = What? more blunt, but common
¿Eh? = Huh? o Hmm? very informal, but also very common between friends

This might vary between regions, just like the use of tú/usted varies.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

conmoción (f).  A little unreliable since, although it can be applied to a public disturbance, its basic meaning is an 'emotion held in common', and it can therefore be used for quite orderly events.  A line culled from a Montevideo daily describing, sympathetically, public reactions to the funeral of a 'martyr' who had been shot in some student riots offers a nice little array of False Cognates (allowing for some journalese); it reported that the people se volcaron por la calle para exteriorizar la honda conmoción del suceso, i.e. 'poured out into the street to manifest their deep sympathy with the event'.  A better word for what we understand by 'commotion' would be jaleo and 'riot' is motín.  In a medical context conmoción means 'concussion'.

conmutador (m).  The usual word in L/A for a 'private telephone exchange'.  In Spain they say centralita.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

In Spain, conmutador is also a switch, el conmutador de la luz = the light switch.

AGX83

What about "interruptor"?

Ya sé que conmutador = switch (lo cual, también se usa, obviamente) para las redes.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

También "interruptor", por supuesto, y de hecho, es de mayor uso para los de tipo común (las luces de casa, etc.).

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

coño (m).  This is unmistakaby a 'four-letter' word and not merely a harmless one which has been downgraded, but it is so common, especially in Spain, that it must clearly be mentioned.  Basically it means 'vulgar word for female genitalia' but it is rarely used for this, nor does it detonate to the same extent.  It is less a noun than an exclamation, a stronger form of ¡Hombre!, so that its nearest equivalent is a surprised or impatient 'Christ!'  There are still many respectable Anglo-Saxons who would be diffident, to say the least, about exclaiming 'Christ!' but it seems to me that Spaniards are less diffident about exclaiming ¡Coño!  Respectable women are unlikely to use it--certainly not in mixed company--but they will often hear ther menfolk do so and raise no objection.

Outside Spain the word is less used and sometimes, e.g. in Chile, hardly known except as a slang word for a Spaniard because the latter uses it so often.  In the Rioplatense region (and the surrounding countries are contaminated) they have succeeded in transferring the odium to the word concha.  In Venezuela and Mexico, however, I have noticed it used as an exclamation of impatience, much as in Spain.

Bueno.... He hecho un cambio pequeño porque Cassell's no utiliza 'vulgar word....' sino la palabra c***.  Creo que el censor no la permite.  Vamos a ver si el censor permite coño.

lfm111 (lfm1111)

En el Caribe (incl. Venezuela, Panamá y costa de Colombia) se usa más o menos como en España.

Sin embargo, en algunas regiones hispanohablantes no se usa y se considera excesivamente vulgar.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

conocer.  I shall not belabor the differences between conocer and saber but one use of the former is so easily overlooked that it deserves a little rubbing-in, viz. 'to get to know', 'to first meet':  Conocí a mi mujer en una fiesta, 'I first met my wife at a party'; He conocido al presidente, 'I've met the president'.  The danger shows most in the reverse direction; how would you say 'I originally met him..'?  Answer:  Lo conocí... simply; the 'originally' is already contained in the word conocí.

Conocer also means 'to know' in the Biblical sense, i.e. 'to have carnal knowledge of'.  A friend was taken by a granadino to see the cave in Sacro Monte, in Granada, and asked him how well he knew the dancers.  The granadino replied: ¿Yo? ¡Pues en el sentido bíblico de la palabra las conozco a todas!

conseguir.  A very common verb, which you should certainly have at your command.  It means 'to get', in the sense of 'to obtain', but it implies mild difficulty in the getting:  ¿Has conseguido entradas?, 'Did you manage to get tickets?'  When used with a verb, instead of a noun, the sense of managing to, or succeeding in, is rather stronger:  ¿Has conseguido entrar?,  'Did you manage to get in?'; He conseguido convencerle de que..., 'I've succeeded in persuading him that...'  (see also coger).

Also common for 'to succeed in', 'to manage to' is lograr:  No logro acostumbrarme a este trabajo, 'I've never succeeded in getting used to this job'. 

conserje (m).  In a wide sense 'keeper', 'warden', 'concierge', 'custodian', 'caretaker', but more particularized in the different countries.  In Mexico, he is the man who guards the entrance to a school, hence 'porter', 'beadle', etc.; in Venezuela the man who guards the entrance to an apartment block/house, hence 'porter', 'janitor', 'superintendent'; in Spain usually the 'head-porter/bell captain' in a hotel.

conservar.  'To keep'.  Easy to understand but not always to rmember to use:  Voy a conservar sus cartas, 'I'm going to keep his letters'.  We tend to associate it with fruit and the like.  Guardar may also be used, though it has a stronger sense of 'putting away'.

consideración (f).  Quite a Good Friend but there is a curious use of it in the Rioplatense for starting business letters.  One does not begin with Muy señor mío but with De mi consideración or De nuestra consideración and then plunges straight into the text.

constipado.  A classic Falso Amigo; the noun una constipación refers to a blockage of the nostrils, hence 'a cold', and the adjective constipado 'having a cold':  Estoy un poco constipado hoy, 'I've got a bit of a cold today'.  In L/A they tend to prefer un resfrío for 'a cold', with resfriado for the adjective.  The Spanish for 'constipated' is estreñido.

contabilidad (f).  You might imagine that this means 'accountability', but the latter is more likely to be handled by responsibilidadContabilidad (sometimes contaduría) simply means 'Accounts', in general, and is likely to be the sign over the door of the Accounting Dept.

contador (m).  Literally 'counter', but probably not of the sort you think; it is the domestic 'meter' which 'counts' gas, electricity, etc.  In much of L/A it may also mean 'accountant', though the formal word for this is contable.  A 'counter' of the sort one buys goods across is usually mostrador or mesón.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

In Spain, "resfriado" is both adjective AND noun.

Albert (Albert76)

Cassell's indicates that "refrio" is used in L/A in the place of "resfriado" for "a cold".   That may be the case and I am no expert when it comes to the diseases that people catch in L/A and how they define them.  That being stated, the only phrase I've noticed here in Texas involving colds is the construction "pescar un resfriado" as in "no quiero pescar un resfriado" (I don't want to catch a cold).   I've never heard "pescar un resfrio" but I suppose that it may be used in other places.  

I've also noticed, for the record, that many hispanohablantes seem to use "pescar una gripe" (the flu) when I would think they would use "pescar/pillar un resfriado".  People seem to commonly confuse colds and the flu more easily in Spanish than we do in English...  A child has "la nariz tapada" with a little "bloqueo nasal" and Mommy assumes that he has "una gripe" (flu).

Probably a cultural issue.   When I was a kid in Canada and you had a little indigestion, my French-speaking family would say "il a mal au foie"  (he has a "liver ache").  On the other hand, my English-speaking aunts simply said "He has a stomach ache".  It wouldn't have occured to them that I had something wrong with my "liver" or vice versa...  Language and culture, to some degree, are intertwined, I guess...

Ela (ElaHuguet)

LOL, I like the "pescar" part, we usually use (in Spain) "pillar" or "coger"... I like the mental image of angling for the damn thing!

sendai90210

constipado.  A classic Falso Amigo

It's only partially false in some or all of Latin America, since there it can also mean "constipated".  If you have a cold, it's probably safer to just say "resfriado" unless you are trying for a laugh.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

contraproducente.  'Counter-productive', 'self-defeating'.  The former is not a common word in our daily conversation; it is more associated with business and economic contexts.  Contraproducente, however, is quite common and is rather the equivalent for our 'it's no good..., it only.. ', e.g. 'It's no good shouting at them, it only makes them noisier', Es contraproducente gritarles ya que sólo se ponen más nerviosos.  'It's a mistake to...',  'It doesn't pay to...', 'It's worse than useless' are other possibilities.  Es contraproducente darle medicina sin consultar a un médico.  'It's unwise to give him medicine before seeing the doctor'.

contestar, contestación (f).  False; they mean 'reply', 'answer':  Hay que contestar a esta carta, 'This letter will have to be replied to'.  Contestación is the usual noun for an 'answer' in Spain; in L/A they mostly say respuesta and often responder for 'to answer'.  'To contest' is usually disputar or impugnar.

controlar.  My dictionary gives this as a 'neologism' and it is certainly of recent date.  I doubt, however, whether it is taken from the English; more probably from the French contrôler since it bears the same meaning, viz. 'to check up'.  Hay que controlar esta carta, 'This letter will have to be checked'.  'The inspector' who checks tickets on a train or bus is el controlador (Fr. contrôleur).  Its use is rather frowned on in Spain where they say revisar.  The frown deepens when they hear Latin Americans say chequear for the same thing and this is certainly taken from English.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Neoligism from when? If it's typed directly from Cassell's, and I recall that was pretty "ancient", lol, then I'll take that, since I've been using "controlar" since I was a kid.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

yeah, I thought that might elicit some commentary!  Yes, it is directly from Cassell's.  Maybe his dictionary was from the late Middle Ages?  ;)

Interestingly, the DRAE only mentions acepciones that would translate as to control.  No info on how long the word has been around.

controlar.
(Del fr. contrôler).
1. tr. Ejercer el control.
2. prnl. moderarse. Cuando bebe no sabe controlarse.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Yes, when I read it I thought "really? to check up on?", but I guess it does, in a way, I think it's pretty much synonymous with "vigilar", "to watch over" (¿puedes controlar a mis hijos mientras voy un momentito a...?), although "controlar" often takes a more active part (and IS also used in a "control" sense).  At school (in Spain), we do "controles", exams/tests, which serve to "check out" the student's progress, afterr all.

lfm111 (lfm1111)

The first DRAE entry for controlar is from 1927, as a Galicism for "revisar", "controlar", "examinar", "comprobar"

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

convenir, conveniente.  I am tempted to damn these as False friends and they are certainly unreliable; convenir seems to mean 'to be convenient', but in practice it means 'to be to one's advantage', 'in one's interest', and financial advantage is rather suggested.  Venir already exists for 'to suit':  Eso me viene bien, 'That suits me very well'.  To intensify convenir you use not bien but mucho and Eso me conviene mucho means 'That's very much in my interest', and suggests you hope to make a million out of it.  'Would that be convenient for you?'  ¿Eso le viene bien?  The difference shows up more clearly in the negative:  No me conviene is tantamount to saying 'It's not in my interest', 'It's not worth my while' --a very different matter from 'It's not convenient'.  It would be passable in, say, a shop, but in response to an invitation it would be intolerably rude.  Convenir can, howver, mean 'to fit', in the physical sense, e.g. clothing.

Conveniente could equate with 'convenient', e.g. in describing an apartment which was handy for one's work, but its commonest equivalents are 'appropriate', 'salutary', 'a good thing':  Dados los problemas actuales sería conveniente que todos lean este documento.  'In the light of present difficulties, it would be a good thing/desirable/just as well/an advantage for everyone to read this document'.

Inconveniente may serve for 'inconvenient' but is probably used more often as a noun meaning 'disadvantage', 'drawback', even 'nuisance':  El inconveniente es que está tan lejos, 'The snag is that it's such a long way off'.  Si  no tiene inconveniente is a stock phrase for 'If you have no objection'.  'Difficulty' would often be the equation:  No habrá inconveniente en pagar en dólares, 'There will be no difficulty about paying in dollars'.  Since Anglo-Saxons tend to leap on the word dificultad for 'difficulty', es conveniente to remind oneself that there is another word for it.  Contratiempo is another (see also problema).

Ela (ElaHuguet)

"Convenir" is also used for something that "is good for you" (or not) medically/physically speaking, te conviene beber mucha leche estando embarazada, el médico ha dicho que no me conviene tomar sal.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

convertirse.  One of the words for 'to become', in the sense of 'to turn into':  ¡Te estás convirtiendo en un verdadero borracho!, 'You're becoming a proper drunkard!'

convidar.  'To invite' but it implies a more limited and immediate type of inviting than invitar and most often applies to treating or standing a drink:  Voy a convidarte a una copita de vino, 'Let me buy you a glass of wine' (see also brindar).

copa (f).  Somewhat False in its image; it is the kind of 'cup' which has a stem and its commonest meaning is probably 'wineglass', but it is, of course, the word for the type of cup won in athletics, etc.: Copa Mundial, 'World Cup'.  The domestic cup, as you know, is taza.

In Colombia copa is used for the 'hubcap' of a car wheel.  One or two minor derivatives are perhaps worth putting on record:  copetín (m) is a Rioplatense word for a 'drink' in the sense of a small cocktail party.  Copetón is a slang word for 'drunk' in Colombia.

copera (f).  Literally a 'female cup bearer', and redolent of old colonial days in Colombia where it means, shall we say, a 'waitress'.  One would not expect to find waitresses in up-country Colombia, which is very much a man's country and a copera does not necessarily limit her activities to bearing (and perhaps sharing) una copa.  Do not, however, address her as ¡Copera!.  Say ¡Señorita!

Ela (ElaHuguet)

http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/

WORDS / PHRASES

1200s

1300s

1400s

1500s

1600s

1700s

1800s

Total

Oral

Lit

Text

 1 .

  CONTROLAR

 

1

630

137

112

381

The 18th century hit:

 18

 Horas de lucha

Habiendo autorizado a los empadronadores para

controlar

los informes, se les otorgó el derecho de invadir

Grant (NewdestinyX)

So it's safe to say it's a more recent addition to the Spanish language, eh?

And I've just discovered that that site does a very literal search. If you enter an INFINITIVE verb it's only searching for the 'infinitive'. To get a better picture you have to use some or several conjugations. Still Controlar is a recent invention of the Spanish language.. As CONTROLA (3rd person) only shows up in the 19th century. And I noticed NOT instances of "controláis" which would seem to indicate that it wasn't a Spain usage when introduced.

AMFC3

So it's safe to say it's a more recent addition to the Spanish language, eh? (...)
And I noticed NOT instances of "controláis" which would seem to indicate that it wasn't a Spain usage when introduced.
-------------------------------------------

Uhm... I would't go that far. You should consider that written language is far more formal than oral one. Apart from this, you can find records starting in the 17th century (but it is true that most of them are 19th and 20th century ones, though).

The following is taken from the CORDE (Corpus Histórico del Español) and dates back to 1625 (the fact that this document originates in Bolivia is a mere accident because the lawyer was Spanish, undoubtedly):

"(...)A Melchor del Castillo se le acuda controlar la plata que se hiço del almoneda del Áluaro de Grijalua, quitadas las costas causadas en 29 agosto 1625. Melchor del Castillo digo que a mi se me despachó libramiento para que Toribio de Prado, reçeptor general de penas de cámara, me pagasse quinientos y veinte y siete peso, y medio corrientes derecho de los lutos que se gastaron en las honrras del Rey, nuestro señor. Y aunque diversas uezes le e hecho notificar muchos decretos de esta Real Audiençia, en que se a mandado que de la primera condenaçión de penas de cámara me pagasse los dichos pesos, no lo a querido hazer ni tanpoco me quiere pagar de los quatro mil pesos de la condenaçión de palavezino, que ya la a cobrado.Y tiene en su poder, y pues yo soy mercader, ya tres años que estoy sin mi dinero; y para hazer mis pagas me questa mucha plata y trabajo, y es justo que se cumpla lo que esta Real Audiençia tiene ordenado.

A Vuestra Alteza pido y suplico mande que el dicho "

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AÑO:

1625

AUTOR:

Anónimo

TÍTULO:

Carta de poder donde Pedro de Barros hace una cobranza en nombre de Melchor del Castillo. [Documento ...

PAÍS:

BOLIVIA

TEMA:

10.Documentos notariales

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

copia (f).  'Copy', yes, but there is a snag:  in Spanish the word is more strictly applied to something that has been copied, e.g. a letter, and it is therefore incorrect for a 'copy' of a book, which is ejemplarCopia is most likely to be used in office circumstances:  Saque una copia más para...., 'Take an extra copy for....'; but:  'Have we got a copy of the Bible?', ¿Tenemos un ejemplar de la Biblia?

corchete. see paréntesis.

paréntesis (m).  'Parenthesis/bracket, of this type:  ( ):  'square' brackets [ ] are corchetes and una corchetera is 'a stapling machine' in Chile since the individual staples, before the blow, look like square brackets.  Entre paréntesis, 'in brackets', is much used in ordinary conversation where me might say 'by the way', or 'incidentally', i.e. when going off on a brief tangent.

correr, recorrer, corredero, corredor (m).  Correr means literally 'to run', but is probably used more metaphorically than literally: ¡Corre! ¡Corre! 'Hurry up!' and the cliché 'How time flies!' is ¡Cómo corre el tiempo!  In a car context:  No corras tanto, 'Don't go so fast'.  It can also be used transitively:  Correr las cortinas, 'to draw the curtains'.  Córrete is likely to mean 'Move over a bit', say, on a crowded sofa.

In the Rioplatense correr can be used of the wind blowing:  ¡Cómo corre! 'What a wind!'.  In Spain this would be ¡Cómo sopla!  A woman there might also say Se me corrió for 'I got a ladder/run in my stocking', a remark that might greatly mislead in Spain (see below).

Recorrer is even more metaphorical:  Recorrí todo el pueblo buscando un tienda abierta, 'I scoured the whole town trying to find a shop that was open', and note that no preposition is used; you could say Corrí por todo el pueblo.. but it would then suggest that you really were running.  Ha recorrido medio mundo, 'He's travelled half round the world'.  It is often useful for the figurative 'to cover':  Hemos recorrido mucho terreno, 'We'eve covered a lot of ground'.  Recorrido can also be used as a noun for 'driving time', 'a run', as well as an 'overhaul' (usually of a car).

Corredera, literally, 'a slider', can have a number of technical applications to parts of machinery that slide but the adjectival expression de corredera is a common way of handling 'sliding', e.g. puertas de corredera, 'sliding doors', though in L/A corredero is perhaps commoner.

Corredor may mean 'corridor' but implies a spacious one in a palace or some equally august building.  In domestic circumstances 'a corridor' or 'passage' is more likely to be un pasillo.

Correrse is the usual verb in Spain for 'to come' in the sexual sense.

Albert (Albert76)

I noted that Cassell's  didn't mention that "recorrido"  is used  (at least in Mexico)  as a common term for "tour".  You see signs in many locations there advertising "recorrido guiado por el Museo"  (guided tour through the museum)  or  "recorrido guiado por la Ciudad de México"  etc.   I see it used  almost as a synonym of "viaje".    It's  also a pretty common term found in tourist lit advertising "tours"  through cities, caves,  parks,  vineyards etc etc.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Exactly, "recorrido" is also "tour, path, course", what way/path did you go/do/follow? - ¿qué recorrido seguiste?

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Agreed.  What comes to my mind for recorrido is route, course, or tour.  But there have been several entries in Cassell's where the most common definitions have been left out.

correspondencia (f), corresponder, correspondiente, corresponsal (m).  Fraught with unreliability and mainly False friends; corresponder con can mean 'to correspond to', in the sense of 'to match up with', e.g. Tu versión no corresponde con la suya, 'Your version doesn't correspond to his/hers', but it will not do for the exchange of letters which would be estar en correspondencia con.

The root meaning of corresponder is 'to respond with': correspondió a sus atenciones enviándole un ramo de flores, 'He repaid her kindness by sending her a bunch of flowers', but it has extended from this to meaning 'to be fitting', 'to belong', 'to behove'*, 'to be (one's) business', even 'one's turn':  No me corresponde a mí juzgar por qué lo hicieron, 'It's not for me to judge why they did it'; No le corresponde could mean 'It's not his business', or 'It doesn't belong to him'.  A quien corresponda is the cliché for 'To whom it may concern'.  Me dieron menos de lo que correspondía, 'They gave me less than what I was due'; Te corresponde a tí, 'Over to you'.  The basic concept is of a fitting counterpart, though sometimes it may be deliberately unfitting, e.g. 'He responded with blows', Correspondió con golpes.  You will probably need mental notes to remind yourself to use it.  How about:  'I can't find a nut to fit this bolt'?  Would you have remembered to use corresponderUmmm, no, not a chance!

Correspondiente is an adjective and means 'corresponding'.  The noun 'correspondent' is corresponsal:  'Foreign corresondent', Corresponsal en el extranjero.

It is something of a relief to know that correspondencia does mean 'correspondence' in the sense of an exchange of letters, but one should bear in mend that it is also the general noun to cover all the types of fitting and counterparting outlined above.  It also has the more particular meaning of 'connection' on railroads, buses, etc.  On the Metro for example, 'Correspondencia (con)... means 'Change... (for the .... line)'.

*Dhemp comment:  I learned that British English spells behoove with only one 'o'.  It was only on editing that I realized that my fingers automatically typed behoove.

corriente.  A fairly Good Friend, for a change; it means 'current', in most senses, including electric current, though natives have a way of referring to this last as la luz:  Han cortado la luz, 'They've cut the current off.'  Some readers may also find it useful to know that 'A.C.' and 'D.C.' are corriente alterna and corriente contínua, respectively.

As an adjective corriente is much used in conversation to mean 'ordinary', 'usual', 'routine', and vino corriente is what the French call 'vin ordinaire', i.e. the wine of the house/region (see also regular and ordinario).  It is, however, not the word for 'current' in the sense of going on at this time, which is actual.

cortado.  'Cut' or 'shortened', yes, but also coffee with milk (see café).

Ela (ElaHuguet)

cortado.  'Cut' or 'shortened', yes, but also coffee with milk (see café).

HARRUMPH!  "coffee with milk" indeed... well!!! As good coffee lovers here in Spain, that is certainly short changing the definition, lol... "cortado" is actually a "longish expresso with milk".

Grant (NewdestinyX)

And only a LITTLE BIT of milk.. Right?

I was taught these gradations while in Spain

MOST espresso to MOST milk

Cafe solo (only espresso)
Cortado (splash of milk)
Cafe con leche corto de leche (almost the same as CORTADO but in a bigger cup -- SOLO and CORTADO are in the very small espresso cups)
Cafe con leche
Cafe con leche corto de cafe (lots of milk)

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Yes, something like that... there are a few cases missing, but yes.

AMFC3

You've missed one:

Leche manchada: milk with a short splash of coffee.

By the way, you can also have a "blanco y negro": iced coffee with cream. Uhmmmm, yummy!!!

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Such as "un americano", a very long, but weak, black coffee (it comes in "cafe con leche" cups).

Albert (Albert76)

Just a little extra "coffee trivia"....  I've  lived in Europe as well as the WI and Africa for a number of years and have enjoyed the different types of coffee and local variations.   But the best I've found is the version of coffee drunk in large quantities by the Cajun folks and other  aficionados in South Louisiana.  The key seems to be the use of "dark blends"  of coffee mixed with Chicory.  The Chicory smooths it out and takes away the slight bitterness of the strong coffee...

When I lived in Belgium for a couple of years I enjoyed their coffee blended with chicory too  but the Cajuns have a special knack,  it seems, for making good (and very strong) coffee.   (But they also eat "gator meat"  and racoon which I'm less fond of....)

¿Hay café con achicoría en España?

Grant (NewdestinyX)

When my wife and I were first married we bought CHOCK FULL O'NUTS coffee from the store here in America and loved it -- and then changed over the years and never liked the other as much -- my wife only bought the 'cheapest' or 'on sale' coffee.. In recent years I discovered that CHOCK FULL O'NUTS coffee blends in chicorie.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

costa (f), costo (m), cuesta (f), costar.  None of these is really difficult but a little disentangling is perhaps desirable.  The commonest meaning of costa is 'coast', e.g. Costa Brava, Costa Azul, etc.  Dictionaries will tell you that it also means 'cost' but its use in this sense is far from everyday and chiefly confined to the Law:  'Legal costs' are Las costas del juicio.  Costo also exists and 'the cost of living' is officially el costo de la vida but in practice most natives mostly say simply La vida.  We use the noun 'cost' rather more than any cognate noun in Spanish; 'to pay the cost of the journey' is pagar los gastos del viaje but again, in practice, they will probably say simply pagar el viaje and 'costs' are likely to be gastos, i.e. expenses.  If 'cost' means more strictly 'price' they will probably say precioA costade is a set phrase for 'at the cost of', but it is probably used more metaphorically than literally.

Cuesta, though cognate with costa, has a much more physical connotation and means 'slope', 'incline'; on a road we should probably say 'hill':  Cuesta arriba, 'uphill'; cuesta abajo, 'downhill'.  La cuesta de enero is a humorous, and not very important, expression for the 'uphill grind' one is faced with in January after spending all one's money over Christmas and the New Year.

Costar means 'to cost', right enough, but again is much used metaphorically where we are likely to say 'give' or 'to cause':  Me costó mucho trabajo, 'It caused me a lot of work'.

AMFC3

Another meaning for "costo" (slang): marijuana (sort of)

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cremallera (f).  In a context of mountain railways this would probably mean a 'rack and pinion' but a more everyday meaning is 'zipper'.  In Venezuela they call 'a zipper' un rache, taken from the English 'ratchet'.  You may sometimes hear un cierre zip (with the p scarcely audible) or cierre relámpago.

criatura (f).  It can serve as an equivalent of 'creature' but to Hispanic ears it immediately suggests a small child:  ¡Qué criatura más adorable!  'What an adorable little thing!'  One may quite properly refer to some unfortunate grown-up as la pobre criatura but el/la pobrecito/a is more likely in practice.

crimen (m).  In theory 'crime'; in practice nearly always 'murder'.  If you mean 'crime' in the strict sense, use delito.

sendai90210

In Argentina, a zipper is simply un cierre, though I'm sure cremallera would be understood.

A crime (a specific act) is a delito, but crime in general (criminal activity) is delincuencia. At least, that's how I understand it.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

criollo.  Historically it applied to people of pure Spanish descent born in Latin America but it has come to be used of anything that belongs authentically to the L/A country in question.  It is much used in Argentina and Venezuela.  Indígena (m or f) ought to mean approximately the same thing but it can sometimes sound pejorative; criollo is said with pride (see also lugareño, típico, castizo).

crisis (f).  'Crisis', certainly, but crisis nerviosa is the universal expression for a 'nervous breakdown'.

crudo/a.  Equates well enough with 'crude' or 'rough', but can also mean 'raw', in connection with fruit or vegetables.  In Mexico una cruda means 'a hangover'.

cuadra (f).  The usual word for 'block', i.e. of buildings, in L/A.  In Spain and Mexico manzana has been the official word for this in the past but is tending to be replaced by bloque.  You are likely to get cuadra when asking the way:  Tres cuadras más allá, 'Three blocks further on'.  In Peru cuadrar is the usual verb for 'to park' a car (see also bocacalle).

cuadro (m).  'Square', but in domestic circumstances its likeliest meaning is 'picture' (on the wall).  For the 'frame' see marco.

banderas4 (pirate309)

Indígena (m or f) ought to mean approximately the same thing but it can sometimes sound pejorative;

Doesn't indígena usually refer to the indios and crillo to those of European descent?

sendai90210

Indígena means "indigenous person", and in the context of South American that pretty much means indio.  I'd say that criollo means "native" or "not foreign", so depending on the context it specifically could be indígena, or it could be simply someone/something that's not foreign (which from the point of view of a European could be European).

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

That would certainly agree with everything that I have ever learned (criollo vs. mestizo vs. indígena).  Cassell's take on this is quite different, no?  And I have not read indígena as pejorative.  But, perhaps, in a broader sense he has a point in that anything that is indigenous, whether plant, animal, human, art, etc., really belongs to the country.  What bugs me is the use of criollo to apply to "anything that belongs authentically to the country in question."  That is a new use of criollo to me.

banderas4 (pirate309)

What bugs me is the use of criollo to apply to "anything that belongs authentically to the country in question."

I have seen it used that way, but I believe it was a Spaniard writing about L/A.  Maybe it all has to do with point of view.  To the indio, only they are the indigenous; to the crillo, the indio is as indigenous as the grass and trees, but they are themselves also indigenous, being native born?

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cualquier, -a.  Cualquiera means 'anybody', and you may call it common in gender since the final a is invariable, though it may be dropped before a noun, e.g. cualquier persona que, 'anybody who'; una persona cualquiera, 'any person whatsoever'.  Cualquiera que, 'whichever or whatever'.  'Whoever' is usually simply quien (probably with the subjunctive following), though quienquiera exists (see quien).

    I mention these rather elementary facts as they point to the whole problem of 'ever', whether by itself or as a suffix, and offer the opportunity to examine ways of handling it.

   'Ever', by itself, often needs no translation:  Lo mejor que he visto en mi vida already implies 'The best I have ever seen in my life'.  The question 'Have you ever (seen)...?' implies 'at any time' and here the device is ¿Has (visto) alguna vez...?  The negative is no problem since Spanish does have nunca, though you need to keep awake about hidden negatives, e.g. 'I haven't ever' = 'I have never'.

   Where the suffix is concerned there is a category which may be termed rhetorical, e.g. 'Whoever can that be?' or 'Whatever did you do that for?'  In these cases the 'ever' is implied by the use of the future tense, and perhaps by a preliminary Pero:  ¿Pero quién será? or, since our 'ever' often implies exasperation:  ¿Pero ¡por Dios! por qué has hecho eso?'  (Extreme exasperation can lead to even stronger expletives being employed at this point).

   When it comes to the suffixes which are really operative, 'whenever', 'however', 'wherever', etc., there are, admittedly, official versions to cover them all:  cuandoquiera que, comoquiera que, dondequiera que, but these are too literary, and therefore pedantic-sounding, for everyday purposes.  Unfortunately there is no one cut-and-dried method of reducing them to everyday size --though the subjunctive is likely to figure largely-- so they had better be taken in turn.

   'Whenever' is fairly straightforward, viz. siempre queSiempre que salgo, 'Whenever I go out'.  If the time is uncertain use the subjunctive:  Siempre que vengas, 'Whenever you (happen to/may) come'.  Other possibilities areCada vez que... and Al+infinitiveAl comprar melones..., 'Whenever you buy melons...', (see vez).

   'Whoever' is likely to be simply quien sea, especially when it is unemphatic, e.g. 'I'll talk to whoever-it-is and tell him...',  Hablaré con quien sea y le diré...but if it is a matter of 'I'll talk to him, whoever he is' (implying even if it's the president himself) then:  Le hablaré, sea quien sea.

   'Wherever' will have more variation as it contains possibilities of both state and motion and might mean 'whithersoever':  'He follows me wherever I go', implies the latter and would be Me sigue por donde vaya.  'Wherever I am', is static and so Donde esté or again, Esté donde esté if I am being more emphatic.

    ‘However’ offers an even greater range of possibilities.  In English it is likely to be followed by an adjective -long, far, big, much, etc.- and in Spanish these are mostly handled by the addition of muy:  por muy grande que sea, ‘however big it is’; por muy lejos que sea, ‘however far away’, but one needs to watch the verb; however long it takes, would be el tiempo que sea.  ‘Much’, too, may need different treatment:  ‘I’ll pay whatever-it-is tomorrow’, Pagaré lo que sea mañana, but: ‘I’ll pay it, however much it is’, Lo pagaré, sea lo que sea.  ‘However’ can also mean:  ‘in whatever manner’, and will then probably be de cualquier forma:  ‘However you do it you get t...[Message truncated]

Grant (NewdestinyX)

Nice entry.. "Wherever" also uses the forma reduplicativa..  "{vaya} dónde vaya" -- where the first vaya can be dropped.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cuarto (m).  A universal word for 'room', but in the Rioplatense it implies a bedroom and in Chile a small room (see also habitación, pieza).

cuate.  A native Mexican word for 'twin', but colloquially used to mean 'buddy', 'pal', 'mate', 'chum', etc.:  Salgo con los cuates, 'I'm going out with the boys'.  A girl may also be called una cuate.  Triplets in Mexico are triates, elsewhere normally trillizos.

DHemp note:  I was once involved in a forum discussion about how Spanish differentiates between identical and fraternal twins.  In my wife's family it is gemelo vs. cuate, but I soon realized that this was not universal and, as noted above, cuate is more commonly used as a synonym for amigo or compadre than for a twin, fraternal or otherwise.  I even made an inquiry to the RAE, but they ducked the question.  I am still not sure if there is a way to distinguish between the two without using an adjective, as we do in English.

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Gemelo: identical twin, sometimes just any type of twin
Mellizo: fraternal twin

Also, I don't really know how much a comparative expression gets used in English, but in Spanish you sometimes hear "gemelos univitelinos" or "bivitelinos", to distinguish "one ovum - two babies" or "two ovums - two babies".

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

Thanks, Ela, for the terms uni- and bivitelino.  As for gemelo and mellizo, mellizo was part of the discussion that I was involved in.  The problem, though, and the RAE consult indicated as much, is that there is considerable overlap between their acepciones.  At any rate, it looks like for the purpose of being absolutely clear, when necessary, in distinguishing identical and fraternal, it is best to use a qualifying adjective.

Could you comment on my use of asiento in my previous post?  The term I wanted to translate was entry, but I was not sure which of the many possible translations would be most appropriate/native. 

sendai90210

Could you comment on my use of asiento in my previous post?  The term I wanted to translate was entry, but I was not sure which of the many possible translations would be most appropriate/native.

I was wondering about that, too.  I would have used one of these: anotación, entrada, mensaje, post or even artículo.  My dictionary seems to indicate that asiento is only entry in the sense of an accounting term, but who knows?

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Ah, well in my "sphere" they're generally understood to be so (gemelo vs. mellizo, I mean), but I can see how others would treat it different... how annoying though! :)

As to "asiento", as Sendai says, it's really an accounting entry, not just any type of, the options he's given you are all good.

AMFC3

Voz:
Word. A same "voz" can have different entries due to etymological reasons (each etymology has its own entry)

Entrada:
Entry

Acepción:
Each definition in an entry.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cubierta, -o.  In addition to being the past participle of cubrir both of these are nouns in their own right.  Una cubierta is the word used in Spain for 'tyre/tire'.  The commonest everyday use of cubierto is in restaurants where it usually means the same as menú del día, i.e. the 'set meal' for the day with a fixed price.  Those anxious to economize will be well advised to look out fi it, by whichever name, as it is nearly always vastly cheaper.  In Mexico it is likely to apply only to lunch, not to an evening meal.  In restaurant jargon it really means 'a place' at the table (we ourselves often talk about a 'cover' charge) and loscubiertos is a general term for 'cutlery'.

sendai90210

"Cubierta" is also the deck of a ship.

Albert (Albert76)

Just wanted to ask if someone could confirm that "cubierta" is actually the common term for tire/tyre in Spain.

 Here in Texas I see  "llantas nuevas y usadas"  etc on the signs in front of the little "talleres"  in Mexican neighborhoods.   But every now and then I see "gomas" used on the signs.    But when  you buy a new tire the bilingual instructions that accompany them tend to use the word "neumático".     There seems to be an endless variety of words to translate tire/tyre....   Now there's  "cubierta" too?

Albert (un poco perplejo)

Ela (ElaHuguet)

cubierta.
(De cubierto).
1. f. Cosa que se pone encima de otra para taparla o resguardarla. Cubierta de cama, de mesa.
2. f. Sobre en que se incluye un escrito.
3. f. Parte exterior delantera que cubre los pliegos de un libro y que suele reproducir los datos de la portada.
4. f. Cada una de las partes, anterior y posterior, que cubre los pliegos de un libro. U. m. en pl.
5. f. Banda que protege exteriormente la cámara de los neumáticos y es la que sufre el roce con el suelo. Es de caucho vulcanizado reforzado con cuerdas o montado sobre un tejido muy resistente.
6. ...

There you have it! Yet another one.

Albert (Albert76)

Thanks for your response,  Ela.  The defintion of "cubierta", as given,  sounds to me as if it's referring to the "tread"  on the tire itself.  Can I conclude that the common word in Spain for the "whole deal"  is "neumático"?  (which is the least common word here,  though I see it a lot in written material put out by the Tire companies...)

Ela (ElaHuguet)

I think it means the whole rubber outer ring part but you may be right, the whole caboodle I call "rueda", hehehe, or "neumático" if you insist.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

I had not seen --or at least remembered-- cubierta as tire.  Tread seems a better translation.

cuco.  A word with rather diverse meanings, and chiefly used around the Caribbean, including Mexico.  As an adjective it can mean 'cute', 'dainty';  as a noun 'cuckoo' or 'glow-worm'.  Perhaps as a combination of these it has come to be a common word for 'smart guy', a crafty one who looks after his own interests (not, however, in Venezuela where it is the commonest vulgar word for the female organ).  In Mexico it is the popular nickname for anyone named Refugio (La Virgen del Refugio is a famous Mexican Virgin) in the same way that Paco is short for Francisco and Pepe for José.  (I understand that this curious diminution stems from the initials P.P., standing for Padre Putativo, since Joseph was the putative father of Jesus).  Girls named Refugio are nicknamed Cuca.

sendai90210

"El cuco" is also the boogeyman in Argentina.  I think other countries say "coco".

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cuenta (f).  'Account', 'bill', 'check', of course, but much used metaphorically and, at the risk of repeating what is in most dictionaries, I draw attention to one or two of the commoner uses:

Darse cuenta de is the normal way of conveying 'to realize' (see realizar, which is largely a False Friend):  No me había dado cuenta de eso, 'I hadn't realized that' (and note that this is not the same as 'I didn't take it into account'); Hay que darse cuenta de que ..., 'One mustn't forget that...'

Tener cuenta should be distinguished from tener en cuentaTener cuenta is alwasys used in the third person; used negatively No tiene cuenta means 'There's no point in it'; used positively it means that there is very much point in it and so equates with such expressions as 'It would be a good thing if', 'It would be just as well if, etc.  Te tienecuenta dejar de fumar, 'It wouldn't be a bad thing if you gave up smoking.'

Tener en cuenta (or tomar en cuenta) means 'to take into account', 'to bear in mind', and can be used by any person; Debe tener en cuenta..., 'You have to remember that...'  Used negatively it is useful for 'to forget', 'to overlook':  No tuve en cuenta que habían cambiado de dirección, 'I'd forgotten that they'd changed their address'.

None of these uses is at all difficult; it is chiefly a matter of appreciating how common and idiomatic they are.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cuerda (f).  'Cord', but it is a general word covering 'string', 'rope', etc. though a thicker type of rope is called soga, a word formerly used for the hangman's rope (see also mecate, reata).  Dar cuerda is the normal expression for 'to wind up' a clock or watch (dating from the days when weights hung on strings.)

cuestión (f).  Surprising as it may seem, this is an Unreliable Friend; it only means 'question' in the sense of subject or problem:  Es una cuestión muy importante, 'It's a very important matter'.  If you mean 'question' in the sense of inquiry then you need pregunta.  The verb 'to question (a person)' is interrogar; 'to question a thing' is dudar de.

Grant (NewdestinyX)

<<cuerda
It is also the word for the STRINGS in the Orchestra (violins, violas, cellos, etc)

Ela (ElaHuguet)

'to question a thing' is dudar de.

Or "cuestionarse", me estoy cuestionando la necesidad de...

Oh, and "dar cuerda" is also to "incite/make someone talk".

All I see is (Edwins)

Wow! I thought that was only Dominican. There it means 'to tease' someone.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

culo (m).  In the four-letter category; in most countries it equates with 'arse' and is distinctly vulgar.  In Spain, however, it does not detonate quite so strongly and is more comparable to 'bottom', 'bum', 'rump'; it is even used for the 'bottom' of, say, a jar or bottle.  Even so it is not a word for foreigners to make free with and some readers may be glad to know that el trasero, 'the behind', is a more acceptable substitute.

A very rude word derived from culo, used chiefly in the Andean zone, is culear, which means to have sexual intercourse--of any sort.

culpa (f). 'Blame', 'fault', of course, and you should warn yourself off falta which means 'lack' or 'default'.  Dictionaries do not usually give all the verbs needed in the allotment of blame, viz.:

tener la culpa, 'to be to blame'

llevarse la culpa, 'to get the blame' (not necessarily to take it)

tomar/aceptar la culpa, 'to take the blame'

echar la culpa, 'to put the blame on someone else'.

All I see is (Edwins)

That entry in that dictionary should be disregarded by almost every non-native speaker. It's only true, as far as I can see, for Spain and perhaps other countries where c**** is buttocks because of metonymy. It can be more vulgar than any other word in some varieties of Spanish.   

This is where bias towards Spain in dictionaries ends up biting, and pardon the pun, a student on the backside. 

Ela (ElaHuguet)

In a sense, it can also be "to tease" here, to "wind up". :)

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

culto (m).  As a noun 'cult', yes, but also 'religious service', in a church; perhaps particularly associated with a Protestant service since by far the commonest Catholic one is la Misa ('Mass').

As an adjective culto is the commonest equivalent for 'educated', 'cultivated', 'learned', and is widely used:  Es un hombre muy culto, 'He's a highly educated man', and is distinctly complimentary, having no overtones of stuffiness or 'artiness', even when used --as it often is-- by people of little education themselves.

Cultura is the noun for 'education' in this sense but is often used for 'manners':  No tiene cultura, 'He's got no manners', 'He doesn't know how to behave' (see also educación).

Ela (ElaHuguet)

Actually, I would say "cultura" equates more to "general knowledge", knowing the basics of geography, history, classic works of art, current events, including how to move in society (manners)... if you have "mucha cultura", you're likely to do well at Trivial Pursuit.

Grant (NewdestinyX)

I can confirm that in Spain 'culto' is the name for the Prtoestant church service.

DHEMP (DHEMPHILL)

cumplir.  If you think it means 'to comply', regard it as a False Friend; it means 'to fulfill', and 'to comply' is condescender or conformarse.  There are one or two everyday uses of it which merit attention: 

For a period of time, or applied to somebody's age, cumplir has the sense of 'to complete':  Pedro cumplió ayer seis años, 'Pedro was/turned six yesterday'; El plazo se cumplirá amedianoche,  'The term expires at midnight'.  'A birthday', as you know, is un cumpleaños.

Cumplir, in a social context, means 'to do the right thing', e.g. in sending flowers to one's hostess, or presents to one's godchildren on their Saint's day.  I once heard two Uruguayan girls discussing a funeral they had attended, not from grief but because convention required it; rather a depressing occasion, apparently, but the conversation ended with one of them saying Pues, hemos cumplido, 'Well, we did our duty', 'We fulfilled our obligation'.  No tienesque cumplir, 'There's no obligation for you to go/do it'.  There is a saying:  Se obedece pero no se cumple, which is used of rules which are quietly ignored, and might sometimes serve as a Spanish equivalent of 'more honoured in the breach than the observance'.

The adjective cumplido is applied to the kind of person who never forgets to telephone and felicitate on  birthdays, anniversaries, etc., or, of course, condole when it is the anniversary of the death of a loved one.  Hispanic mores, in these matters, are rather more exigent than ours (see velatorio).

In Latin America cumplido is often used to mean simply 'punctual', and No hagas cumplidos can mean 'Don't stand on ceremony'.  In Spain they are more likely to say Déjate de cumplidos for this.