What's the best thing you learnt in Spanish this week?

[Ben]

In my case it was that tirachinas (catapult) is so-called because small stones, like the ones you find on a beach, are called chinas, and the catapult throws them (tirar) ;D

How about you, what's the best bit of Spanish you learned this week?

[Marbella]

Listening to an old news clip this week, I heard someone shout at my old friend Julian Muñoz, "chorizo". I thought that was a very odd thing to shout at him until my wife explained that chorizo also means 'thief'.

[barca]

All those compound nouns (VERB+plural noun) are great - abrelatas, portaviones, parabrisas, rascacielos.........

[Edith]

My learning process is a bit random, although I'm trying to create some order amidst the chaos. This week I focused on wine-related agricultural subjects, and I learned words like vendimia (vintage), viñedo (vineyard), alcornoque (cork oak), plaga (plague, pest) and tapón (cork, plug, stopper), corcho natural (natural cork), and tapón de plástico (plastic cork). I already knew the word sacacorchos (corkscrew) which sounds hilariously funny to me (but perhaps this is a Dutch thing :D ).

[Marbella]

Can I add another? Linking to Edith's great theme, I just learned resaca.
I'd only heard this in relation to the sea, resaca = undercurrent. But also it can be used as in, "Esta mañana tengo resaca." This morning I have a hangover.

[Ben]

Can I add another? Linking to Edith's great theme, I just learned resaca.
I'd only heard this in relation to the sea, resaca = undercurrent. But also it can be used as in, "Esta mañana tengo resaca." This morning I have a hangover.
That's funny, I learnt it the other way round! And of course you can add as many as you like. No-one else learnt anything interesting this week?!

[Marbella]

That's funny, I learnt it the other way round! And of course you can add as many as you like. No-one else learnt anything interesting this week?!

I should have known it was hangover before now!

Resaca was part of the first lesson I did on an intensive Spanish course in 1992! The dialogue we studied was from a place called Verdicio in Asturias which has a beautiful beach but dangerous seas. I've still got the book from the course, here are some more words:

"El problema es que es una playa hasta cierto punto peligrosa porque tiene mucha resaca. Entonces no te puedes confiar mucho en el mar, porque te estás bañando y te arrastra, notas que el mar te lleva."

arrastrar = to drag
hasta cierto punto peligrosa = dangerous up to a point
no te puedes confiar mucho en el mar = you can´t really trust the sea
notas que el mar te lleva = you realise that the sea is carrying you off

[que]

¡que te cagas! :D

its funnny, some things in spanish will take time and usage to remember, even if its a small simple word. But there are some you know will stay up there with little effort!

[Jimmy]

Las esposas = The wives

But also = The Handcuffs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D

Just brilliant !!!!! :D

[Marbella]

I just picked up another. My youngest son and his best friend are nicknamed Zipi y Zape after well known Spanish cartoon characters (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipi_y_Zape). The word zipizape means rumpus, hubbub.

[Cat]

After listening to one of your earlier podcasts ( I'm a bit behind)..

"tiquismiquis"......and was able to use it to my tutor to describe him....as he is just so particular & fussy ....... he was impressed, but no more than me, it's become one of my favourite words!

[Edith]

After listening to one of your earlier podcasts ( I'm a bit behind)..

"tiquismiquis"......and was able to use it to my tutor to describe him....as he is just so particular & fussy ....... he was impressed, but no more than me, it's become one of my favourite words!

It sounds really finicky... like a tiny little mouse which fusses over everything... :D Thank you for adding this new word to my vocabulary!

[Catica]

Está por ver que... It remains to be seen. From a lesson in Assimil's Using Spanish (I'm getting a kick out of this!). It's one of those small yet useful expressions that would never occur to me on my own.

[ValenciaSon]

I heard this on TVE and thought it a humorous expression "Falla mas que una escopeta de la feria". Does anyone know if this is a common expression?

[José Miguel]

I heard this on TVE and thought it a humorous expression "Falla mas que una escopeta de la feria". Does anyone know if this is a common expression?
Es una expresión corriente. Se refiere a que en las ferias las escopetas de perdigones suelen tener el cañón torcido para que sea más difícil dar en el blanco y llevarte el osito de peluche de premio.
Esta es una expresión comparativa como muchas otras: "Es más lento que el caballo del malo" (referida a las películas del Far West), "Es más maricón que un palomo cojo" (se supone que los palomos cojos no pueden alcanzar a las hembras), "Está más negro que el sobaco de un grillo" (parece el colmo de la suciedad y de la oscuridad), "Está más zumbado que las maracas de Machín" (Machín fue un cantante cubano que siempre se acompañaba tocando las maracas. Como este cantante actuó durante muchos años se supone que sus maracas acabarían locas por haber sido agitadas durante tanto tiempo), "Eso está mas chupao que la pipa de un indio" (estar chupao --chupado-- se utiliza para nombrar alguna actividad que sea muy fácil de hacer)

[José Miguel]

Listening to an old news clip this week, I heard someone shout at my old friend Julian Muñoz, "chorizo". I thought that was a very odd thing to shout at him until my wife explained that chorizo also means 'thief'.
"Chorizo" en este caso viene del verbo "chorar" que es argot gitano para decir "robar".

[DerekD]

dar el pecho - to breast feed

i didnt know how to say it & ended up saying something with the word 'teta'...which caused a chuckle at least :D

ps - great thread.

[DerekD]

oh ive just looked at the dates on this!
i think it would be a great idea to use this as a sticky - if we all posted uncommon phrases/words it would be a great learning resource - esp if we keep it fairly snappy.

[Berti]

After a weekend visit to the local cinema, where due to not fully understanding some dialogue, I missed a couple of important plot developments. Later as we were talking about the film and plot ,I was searching my cranium for the Spanish equivalent for "racking my brains" This caused some laughter as I attempted it with both "buscar" and "registrar".
My friends finally realised what I was attempting and kindly informed me of the correct form:
devanarse los sesos / me devanaba los sesos

A useful phrase and as always due to the circumstances of its arrival in my vocabulary, difficult now to forget.:thumbs-up:

[tad]

I've always used cerebro for brain (or cabeza) is seso more natural? The expression is used in the plural form Berti?
When I looked up devanarse it didn't seem to be used in any other context. :rolleyes:(well I guess we too rack our brains) -I mean what the hell is rack anyway? I can't think of racking anything else.
Rack and ruin?

[richardksa]

It's definitely correct. Showing off, I used the phrase last night. Friends muy impressed. :smug:

[Berti]

I've always used cerebro for brain (or cabeza) is seso more natural? The expression is used in the plural form Berti?

"Seso", plural "los sesos", I believe cerebro is also perfectly correct, I tend to use seso when thinking of " grey matter" or in my case "slightly older grey matter".

A native speaker may drop in to clarify if seso is preferred in certain circumstances.:thumbs-up:

[eldeano]

A native speaker may drop in to clarify if seso is preferred in certain circumstances.:thumbs-up:

I can't think of any circumstance when anyone would use 'Tiddles' and 'sesos' in the same sentence (unless the word 'sin' was involved). :smug:

[tad]

It's definitely correct. Showing off, I used the phrase last night. Friends muy impressed. :smug:
I'll try it with the Colombian's tomorrow and see how it goes -sounds like a good one to learn to express your lack of language retention -so it must be useful.:p Cheers Berti.

[yunouguaramin]

"Seso", plural "los sesos", I believe cerebro is also perfectly correct, I tend to use seso when thinking of " grey matter" or in my case "slightly older grey matter".

A native speaker may drop in to clarify if seso is preferred in certain circumstances.:thumbs-up:

Lo intentaré pero la lingüística no está entre mis cimas conquistadas. Soy un hablante del vulgo.

Seso y los sesos es equivalente a cerebro o mente, pero en su propio ámbito. En ningún escrito serio sobre el cerebro o la mente, saldrá la palabra ‘sesos’.

Cerebro o mente son palabras serias, pero mas populares que sesos. Me explico.
Sesos casi solo se usa en frases hechas. ‘Frases hechas’ no son refranes ni dichos, pero para expresar ciertas ideas o situaciones, todo el mundo las usa y perduran a través del tiempo. A mi las frases con ‘sesos’ me parecen antigüas, pero todos las usamos.
Solo recuerdo tres, seguro que debe haber más.

Devanarse los sesos = romperse el coco. Cuando por lo que sea, forzamos el cerebro a toda máquina.

Las alternativas.
Devanarse el cerebro. ¿ eh?
Devanarse la mente. ¿ eh?

De hecho el verbo ‘devanar’ solo se usa con ‘sesos’. Creo que describe una labor textil o algo así porqué solo se me ocurre ‘devanar el hilo’. Eso es una frase hecha, resiste aunque todas sus palabras componentes estén en deshuso.

Sorber el seso = obsesionarse, enamorarse.

Las alternativas.
Sorber el cerebro. Queda muy repugnante.
Sorber la mente. Bien en películas de terror.

Usar la sesera. Pensar con sentido común. Sesera es equivalente a sesos.

Y claro, en la comida. Aquí es bastante frecuente comer sesos, de animales claro.
De hecho creo que la definición seria de sesos será algo así como ‘cerebro de los animales’.

…y de segundo sesos de toro. Con salsa de ajo y perejil están guay.
…y de segundo cerebro de ternera. Se te quitan las ganas de comer.
…y de segundo mente de cordero. Joder.

Secso. Parece increíble, pero nadie piensa en eso cuando lee esta palabra. Cuando se pronuncia en voz alta, entonces si. ¡Ahh!
¿ Por qué se escogió la X para simbolizar ‘contenido sexual’? Es mucho más sensual la S, desde el punto de vista masculino al menos.

[Berti]

Lo intentaré pero la lingüística no está entre mis cimas conquistadas. Soy un hablante del vulgo.

Seso y los sesos es equivalente a cerebro o mente, pero en su propio ámbito. En ningún escrito serio sobre el cerebro o la mente, saldrá la palabra ‘sesos’.

Cerebro o mente son palabras serias, pero mas populares que sesos. Me explico.
Sesos casi solo se usa en frases hechas. ‘Frases hechas’ no son refranes ni dichos, pero para expresar ciertas ideas o situaciones, todo el mundo las usa y perduran a través del tiempo. A mi las frases con ‘sesos’ me parecen antigüas, pero todos las usamos.

.Gracias por este vistazo acerca de cómo se utilizar “los sesos”, para mi fue muy útil. Siempre los comentarios de un hablante del vulgo de cualquier idioma son muy agradecidos.
:wave:

[tad]

…y de segundo sesos de toro. Con salsa de ajo y perejil están guay.



Eeeew. No soy aficionado de esos partes del animal. En Ingleterra tenemos una palabra rara para sesos (como comida) que es 'brawn'.
Nunca lo he probado -no me gusta cosas coma tripa, sesos, riñón, corazón o algo así -aunque hígado no es tan malo.

de Harry Potter encontré esto

...se pusieron furiosos y se les fue un poco la mano...
creo que es como 'perdieron los estribos'(?)

Descrubí esta semana tambien que 'weed' en español es sensillamente 'mala hierba'

[tad]

I can't think of any circumstance when anyone would use 'Tiddles' and 'sesos' in the same sentence (unless the word 'sin' was involved). :smug:
Yeah, well, hardy ha ha.

[gary]

I've always used cerebro for brain (or cabeza) is seso more natural? The expression is used in the plural form Berti?
When I looked up devanarse it didn't seem to be used in any other context. :rolleyes:(well I guess we too rack our brains) -I mean what the hell is rack anyway? I can't think of racking anything else.
Rack and ruin?

Snooker balls and points can be racked up, Aussies can be racked off...

[eldeano]

Rack - instrument of torture.

Rack of lamb - yummy :p

[richardksa]

Not forgetting a woman's outstanding attributes.:blush:;)

[tad]

Rack - instrument of torture.

Rack of lamb - yummy :p
I meant rack as a verb

Not forgetting a woman's outstanding attributes.:blush:;)
huh:confused:

To be racked with pain :)

[eldeano]

I meant rack as a verb


Rack and roll?

[yunouguaramin]

Eeeew. No soy aficionado de esos partes del animal. En Ingleterra tenemos una palabra rara para sesos (como comida) que es 'brawn'.
Nunca lo he probado -no me gusta cosas coma tripa, sesos, riñón, corazón o algo así -aunque hígado no es tan malo.

Yo no hago esa agrupación. Aunque todo son vísceras, son muy diferentes el corazón y el riñón de los sesos y las tripas.
Corazón y rinón tienen la misma textura que los músculos y se pueden masticar a gusto. Los sesos ya es un reto psicológico.

de Harry Potter encontré esto

...se pusieron furiosos y se les fue un poco la mano...
creo que es como 'perdieron los estribos'(?)


No, mas bien significa infligir un castigo desproporcionado o abusivo a alguien.
En novelas o películas donde aparecen abusos o torturas policiales o militares (qué tiempos…) , cuando los malos matan o desgracian a un detenido, SIEMPRE dicen a su superior “se nos ha ido la mano…”.
La frase va en consonancia con el contexto, asi en una pelea callejera, se te puede ir la mano si le das dos hostias a un rival en retirada, si lo matas es que se te ha ido la olla.

De forma más general significa que has sobrepasado "lo normal" haciendo cualquier acto. Si en vez de beber 1 whiskey bebes 10 es que se te ha ido la mano bebiendo whiskey.

Descrubí esta semana tambien que 'weed' en español es sensillamente 'mala hierba'


Me he enterado que ‘izquierda’ deriva del vasco ‘ezkerra’. Siempre había creído que el tránsito era en el otro sentido.

[tad]

No, mas bien significa infligir un castigo desproporcionado o abusivo a alguien.
Ah gracias, sí, eso cabe mejor al relato.

Me he enterado que ‘izquierda’ deriva del vasco ‘ezkerra’. Siempre había creído que el tránsito era en el otro sentido.

Es interesante ‘izquierda’ siempre me ha parecido una palabra rara.

[tad]

Nunca lo he probado -no me gusta cosas coma tripa, sesos, riñón, corazón o algo así -aunque hígado no es tan malo.

Despues de mis experiencias en Madrid, puedo añadir 'oreja' a la lista tambien. :(

[tad]

Me he enterado que ‘izquierda’ deriva del vasco ‘ezkerra’. Siempre había creído que el tránsito era en el otro sentido.
Joseph J. Keenan in his book 'Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish' devotes a whole chapter to these words that entered Spain over the centuries -dozens of Moorish ones of course.

I like his explanation of 'bigote' (which you just know is 'unspanish')

"In the 15th century, for instance, the Spaniards found themselves in need of a word to describe 'mustache,' it not having occurred to a Spaniard until that time that such a thing could exist without the rest of the beard. At first, the Germanism bigote found favor (itself a word that came via Norman French from the English expession 'by god' (presumably for what the English said when they first saw a Norman wearing one) A century later, the Italianism mostacho (originally from the Greek moustaki) became the rage. Eventually, the Germanism won out, though mostacho lives on in Spanish as an infrequent archaism."

Tricky business, the origins of words!

[yunouguaramin]

Ah gracias, sí, eso cabe mejor al relato.


Es interesante ‘izquierda’ siempre me ha parecido una palabra rara.

Yo aprendí en la escuela que unas pocas palabras como barro y arroyo tenían su origen en lenguas íberas pre-romanas, pero en una palabra tan de todos los días como 'izquierda' lo encuentro sorprendente.

[yunouguaramin]

Despues de mis experiencias en Madrid, puedo añadir 'oreja' a la lista tambien. :(

¿ Has probado los caracoles ?. Recuerdo mi primera vez.

Yo - Papa ¿ te vas a comer eso ?. Si parecen más asquerosos que los gusanos, con babas y ...
Mi padre - Si no quieres no comas, pero cállate.

comí y me gustaron.

Algo parecido me pasó con los ojos, si, los ojos de cabeza de cordero asada.

En fin, estoy preparado para el futuro, cuando la comida sea a base de insectos, algas y cosas así.

[yunouguaramin]

Joseph J. Keenan in his book 'Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish' devotes a whole chapter to these words that entered Spain over the centuries -dozens of Moorish ones of course.

I like his explanation of 'bigote' (which you just know is 'unspanish')

"In the 15th century, for instance, the Spaniards found themselves in need of a word to describe 'mustache,' it not having occurred to a Spaniard until that time that such a thing could exist without the rest of the beard. At first, the Germanism bigote found favor (itself a word that came via Norman French from the English expession 'by god' (presumably for what the English said when they first saw a Norman wearing one) A century later, the Italianism mostacho (originally from the Greek moustaki) became the rage. Eventually, the Germanism won out, though mostacho lives on in Spanish as an infrequent archaism."

Tricky business, the origins of words!

Who knows if the story is true, but is very amusing.
I would say that the name depends on size. If the ‘bigote’ is very big, like the ones of Asterix or Obelix, very unfrequent, it is called ‘mostacho’, if it is normal size then it is called ‘bigote’. I always thought ‘mostacho’ came from French ‘moustache’, in any case a long journey for both words.

Georges Moustaki = Jorgito Bigotazo; great loss of ‘cool’ in the translation.

I see a lot the words ‘vigilante’ and ‘costumed vigilante’ at the Spiderman comics. Vigilante sounds very Spanish, but who knows where the word come from.

[Pat1]

acabo de leer "El alquimista" por Paolo Coelho (mi segunda novela en español!) y he aprendido:
el pozo - well
la moza - young lass
::drumroll::
el alquimia (sin accento) - alchemy

y muchas más, por supuesto

[tad]

¿ Has probado los caracoles ?..

No!

[tad]

acabo de leer "El alquimista" por Paolo Coelho (mi segunda novela en español!) y he aprendido:
el pozo - well

Has o'ido 'mi gozo en un pozo' alguna vez? que quiere decir 'I'm a little down' :p

[Berti]

¡Que gracia! / How funny!

Another phrase that recently entered my vocabulary, can think of no reason why it took so long to pick up but that is life when learning another language.

[MrMark]

I don't suppose I'll ever need to use this expression in real life, but the equivalent for spiral staircase in Spanish is escalera de caracol. Nice!

[xan]

I was watching TVE the other day and heard a spokeswoman for the PP use an expression involving Saint Benedict. She was going on about "...el san benito que nos ponen otros de cosas que son muy alejadas de la realidad". Which struck me as strange enough to investigate. What could it possibly mean to put a "Saint Benedict" on someone? It turns out that a San Benito ("sambenito") was a sort of penitential Maoist dunce-cap garment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambenito) that the Inquisition made convicted heretics wear. And it is used metaphorically in a loose way to refer to any kind of shameful humiliating thing or stigma, especially that other people accuse you of, or force onto you.

Here´s one from a PSOE politician, so it's not just conservatives who use the expression: David Lucas ha recordado que Madrid tiene el sambenito de ser una de las ciudades más contaminadas de toda Europa, “y, además, su Gobierno municipal tiene ...

An example, involving platypuses: "Al ornitorrinco le toca siempre el sambenito de bicho raro. Este mamífero peludo provisto de pico plano y pies palmeados, que pone huevos pero amamanta a ..."

I have no idea how common an expression this is, but I have to say it seems like a good one to keep around.

[Berti]

" que se sepa.............."

" as far as anyone knows........."

[Petrichor]

Trasnochador/a = (sustantivo) a person who goes to sleep very late.
(adjetivo) given to staying up late.

Trasnochar = (verbo) to stay up late, to stay up all night.

[gastephen]

What could it possibly mean to put a "Saint Benedict" on someone? It turns out that a San Benito ("sambenito") was a sort of penitential Maoist dunce-cap garment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambenito) that the Inquisition made convicted heretics wear. And it is used metaphorically in a loose way to refer to any kind of shameful humiliating thing or stigma, especially that other people accuse you of, or force onto you.


According to that Wikipedia article, it seems that the sambenito was the tunic rather than the hat. Here's the full picture of Goya's painting.

http://jameswagner.com/mt_archives/goya_inquisition.jpg

There's a scene in Goya's Ghosts (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455957/) with Bardem's pathetic Lorenzo forced to wear such garb.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTk3MDY5MTQ2OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwODMxMjI3._V1._ SX485_SY323_.jpg

[xan]

Trasnochador/a = (sustantivo) a person who goes to sleep very late.
(adjetivo) given to staying up late.

Trasnochar = (verbo) to stay up late, to stay up all night.

The adjective "trasnochado" also seems to have a meaning like old, worn out, past one´s prime, etc. An obvious extension of meaning given that that's exactly how one feels and looks after staying up all night.

A quote in El País from the basque singer Mikel Erentxun:

"No es un adiós a la música, pero no quiero convertirme en un dinosaurio trasnochado", afirmó Erentxun, durante una entrevista.

[Petrichor]

Some more words that I came across recently:-

1. fulano = so-and-so
Don Fulano = Mr. So-and-So
fulano, zutano y mengano = Tom, Dick and Harry

2. dejarse llevar = to get carried away

[tad]

I don't suppose I'll ever need to use this expression in real life, but the equivalent for spiral staircase in Spanish is escalera de caracol. Nice!
There was an escalera de caracol in Harry Potter that came up all the time but I didn't look it up for ages, assuming that caracol was a type of stone.

¿caracoles o espirales?
Thinking about spirals and 'escaleras de caracol' I wondered about other spirals:
all I could think of were spiral galaxies, the double helix structure of DNA and 'to spiral out of control' any of those snail based? I see that the word espiral exists.

[thindi]

maybe someone would know how to translate:

lady killer.

can you imagine how it was for me to tell a local lady that her son is going to be lady killer when he grows up?

[greytop]

wordreference.com (http://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=ladykiller) offers several alternatives :
lady-killer n nm Casanova
n nm donjuán
n nm ladrón de corazones
Compound Forms:
nm rompecorazones
nm donjuán

[thindi]

wordreference.com (http://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=ladykiller) offers several alternatives :
lady-killer n nm Casanova
n nm donjuán
n nm ladrón de corazones
Compound Forms:
nm rompecorazones
nm donjuán

thanks, seems like a good source

[jubilee]

fulano, zutano y mengano = Tom, Dick and Harry

I love this - thanks!

I am just learning how to express unplanned occurrences, like running out of bread

se me acabó el pan.

Keep forgetting to make the verb agree with the object and not the subject since it is one of those constructions which work inside out (I am sure there is a neat grammatical way to describe this structure, rather than "inside out" but whatever, it requires mental gymnastics)

se me perdieron las llaves

etc.

[O_Fortuna]

"cojonudo" - amazing (lo aprendí hace unos días)
"acojonar" - to scare (lo aprendí hace unos meses)

Ya veis k me encantan las palabras vulgares, especialmente las k tienen semejanza a "cojones"..

[Edith]

especialmente las k tienen semejanza a "cojones"..

Y la lengua del MSN... :D

[Edith]

This week I learned some words relating to wasps (avispas) and bees (abejas):

avispón = hornet
avispado (adj.) = quick-witted; sharp
abejorro = bumblebee

[Edith]

::drumroll::
el alquimia (sin accento) - alchemy


That's strange, isn't it? Compare 'alquimia' with 'orquídea' (orchid). :confused:

[mitchellcardenas]

Chabacano = apricot (Mexican Spanish). It's strange because I've always used albaricoque for apricot (because that's what my wife's family uses), but the other day I threw out that word in front of my Mexican mother, upon which she quickly corrected me to say chabacano. I later looked it up a bit more and found that Chavacano is the only Spanish creole language used in Asia: article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavacano_language) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavacano_language).

[Edith]

I later looked it up a bit more and found that Chavacano is the only Spanish creole language used in Asia: article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavacano_language).

This reminds me of Papiamento (Papiamentu), which is a Creole language from the Netherlands Antilles. Some say its roots are partly Spanish too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papiamento

As a result of cultural influences from neighboring Venezuela, Papiamento has become more 'hispanicized' during the last few decades. Many islanders are fluent in Spanish because they grow up watching Venezuelan TV.

[O_Fortuna]

Y la lengua del MSN...
Sí, me fascina la jerga (y la lingüística en general), no solamente la de español sino también la de inglés y la de todos los romances. K lo tengas claro, a pesar de usar la lengua del MSN, soy muy capaz de usar la lengua aprobada por la Academia. :)

[Berti]

I was reading an article about a fatal shooting in a local prison and came across a new word (for me) meaning prisoner: “un preso”
and also another word for esplanade/riverside walkway: “ un paseo fluvial”

[Edith]

Suricato - meerkat

[meghan82]

i went to a tapas restaurant in baltimore with my mother-in-law and my husband this past weekend! i've been to tapas before but now that i am learning spanish they made me order, haha. i learned that mushrooms are champinones. and brocheta is like a shish ka bob. luckily i convinced them to get the tortilla espanola, my favorite. after we drank a 1/2 price pitcher of sangria my husband said he would go to spain on vacation or even live there for a year :) previously he said he would only ever go there if one of us spoke fluent spanish (and since my very little spanish is light years ahead of him, that will hopefully be me someday!) more incentive for me to keep learning! :)

[ValenciaSon]

i went to a tapas restaurant in baltimore with my mother-in-law and my husband this past weekend! i've been to tapas before but now that i am learning spanish they made me order, haha. i learned that mushrooms are champinones. and brocheta is like a shish ka bob. luckily i convinced them to get the tortilla espanola, my favorite. after we drank a 1/2 price pitcher of sangria my husband said he would go to spain on vacation or even live there for a year :) previously he said he would only ever go there if one of us spoke fluent spanish (and since my very little spanish is light years ahead of him, that will hopefully be me someday!) more incentive for me to keep learning! :)Where in Baltimore? I'm working at Hopkins now.

[gastephen]

Some interesting insights into the irregularities of the language. (http://www.virginia.edu/cla/avd/doc/spanish_history.html)

[delgado]

I was with one of my mates the other day and we walked into a bar , there was 3 women and about 30 blokes and my mate turned round to me and said " jo tio! este bar parece un campo de nabos! vamos pues!" I though about it for a second and then nearly died laughing !! hehehe