Incorrect Spanish Street Names?

[saiguanas]

This has always bothered me and I want to get confirmation on it.
My street name is "Prima Vista". Now to me that translates to "Cousin View". Am I right or is there another meaning? I think what happens is that the gringos that built my sub-division got to name the streets and thought it sounded good. I don't know. They also named a street "Los Cerdos".

It actually got me embarassed on my first trip to Spain. I knew almost no spanish and figured that it sounded like "Prime" or "The best" so I actually asked the following question within my first 24 hours of being in Spain: "Que playa es mas prima"? :blush:

The couple that I asked had a puzzled look on their face and said something about "familia". Oh well, you never learn without making mistakes.

[88keys07]

I'm not sure what your street name would mean. It almost sounds like Italian "first view"...at least it makes a bit more sense. ;D

I can remember when I lived in Arizona these two streets, one called "silverbell" and the other "campana de plata". So you could literally live at the intersection of them....what a headache when speaking Spanglish :rolleyes:.

[saiguanas]

Yeah, you could almost make the argument for Italian except the sub-division is all spanish names and is called El Dorado.

Coincidentally, the street "Casa de Oro"...has no houses on it.:confused:

[AlMadrid]

I think "Prima Vista" is italian, not spanish.

[Beckett]

Yes, I believe AlMadrid is right. Prima vista is Italian for "prime view."

Your sub-division sounds like a riot! Los Cerdos??!! :D Whoever named those streets never bothered to crack open a Spanish-English dictionary just to check what the words meant.

[richardksa]

Yeah, you could almost make the argument for Italian except the sub-division is all spanish names and is called El Dorado.

Wasn't El Dorado a defunct British soap opera, from ages ago, based on one of the Spanish costas??


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldorado_%28TV_series%29

There's photos of the "fictional" set here (http://www.losbarcos.org.uk/index.htm).

[xan]

Yes, I believe AlMadrid is right. Prima vista is Italian for "prime view."

Your sub-division sounds like a riot! Los Cerdos??!! :D Whoever named those streets never bothered to crack open a Spanish-English dictionary just to check what the words meant.

There're quite a few of these little oddities, in truth. I remember a Sarasota, FL movie theater called the "teatro theater". Now if only one could find an analogous "theater teatro" in Spain...

In a slightly different vein, the phrase "mano a mano" has been cropping up quite a bit recently in US english, but many people imagine it means "man to man", and speak of "mano a mano" talks and so forth.

[ValenciaSon]

Isn't there a place in California called La Brea Tar Pits?

[xan]

Isn't there a place in California called La Brea Tar Pits?

yeah. Although I think they are formally called the Rancho la brea tar pits, which doesn't sound quite so retarded.

But that brings up another word, "rancho", which in Mexico means any sort of rural dwelling, however miserable, squalid, small, and grungy, but which has somehow acquired overtones of romance and grandiosity in the US. So there are all kinds of rancho-this and rancho-that real estate developments in the US. The "planned community of Rancho del Rey". Can't get any tonier than that, no.

[greytop]

...

In a slightly different vein, the phrase "mano a mano" has been cropping up quite a bit recently in US english, but many people imagine it means "man to man", and speak of "mano a mano" talks and so forth.Maybe they're using sign language :)

[José Miguel]

They also named a street "Los Cerdos".
Los Cerdos? Maybe Los Cedros= Cedar Trees?

[saiguanas]

Los Cerdos? Maybe Los Cedros= Cedar Trees?

Nope. Just like this. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Los+Cerdos+St,+San+Antonio,+TX+78233,+USA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title

Also noticed a Los Esplanada. Shouldn't it be La Esplanada or Las Esplanadas?

I'm sure you guys could find more.

[Soy de Boston]

Along the same lines as "teatro theater" there's an area near Boulder, Colorado called Table Mesa. Presumably they're using "mesa" in the geographical formation sense of the word but we still like to call it "Table Table".

[José Miguel]

Me ha recordado a un grupo musical: "Las Hermanas Sisters"

[gastephen]

Along the same lines as "teatro theater" there's an area near Boulder, Colorado called Table Mesa. Presumably they're using "mesa" in the geographical formation sense of the word but we still like to call it "Table Table".

Interesting. :)

And by the way, the British placename Churchill has nothing to do with churches; it comes from a juxtaposition of the Celtic crug, meaning hill, with its English equivalent.

[richardksa]

And of course, in the UK are two River Avons. In old English that's River river.

[gastephen]

And of course, in the UK are two River Avons. In old English that's River river.

Aye. Nice one. In fact, afon is Welsh (where the f is voiced, like the English v) for river.

[xan]

got another one, Picacho Peak State Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picacho_Peak_State_Park) in Arizona

[Urgellenk]

Primo (a) (from Lat. "primus") means also first in Spanish. It is an old-fashioned word but still used mostly in a litterary context.

Many of the Spanish names used in America have remain unchanged since the 17th/18th centuries, whereas the language has evolved in Spain in this time lapse.

In modern Spanish, we no longer write Monterey, but Monterrey; no Texas but Tejas; and Hierbabuena has become more common than Yerbabuena. There are no doubt other cases, where the original Spanish name has been corrupted over the years.

[Urgellenk]

Of course, we still write Texas (old spelling) when referring to the geographical name, but I mean we do write tejas (modern spelling) when referring to the word "tiles".

[saiguanas]

Primo (a) (from Lat. "primus") means also first in Spanish. It is an old-fashioned word but still used mostly in a litterary context.

Many of the Spanish names used in America have remain unchanged since the 17th/18th centuries, whereas the language has evolved in Spain in this time lapse.

In modern Spanish, we no longer write Monterey, but Monterrey; no Texas but Tejas; and Hierbabuena has become more common than Yerbabuena. There are no doubt other cases, where the original Spanish name has been corrupted over the years.

Heh. I am going to jack this and use it at parties to impress my friends!;D Thanks for the info.