The newspaper El País met writers
from the twenty Spanish-speaking countries and each choose one word that best
represents their regional variety of the language. The result of the
survey is a sonorous atlas of the Spanish language that is,
without a doubt, a good opportunity to be amazed by the diversity of the
Spanish language, which is rich in regional varieties and dialects. The words
proposed by those surveyed include:
Argentina: boludo (Juan Gelman). “A
very popular term that is highly ambiguous today, it refers to a silly, stupid,
or idiotic person. However, it does not always imply this insulting connotation”,
since, more recently, it has been adopted as a term of endearment among
friends.
Bolivia: jailón (Edmundo Paz
Soldán). “It refers to someone from ‘high society,’ and its connotation tends
to be negative.”
Chile: patiperro [literally: dog feet;
refers to “itchy feet,” or a desire to travel.] (Antonio Skármeta). “We
Chileans have ‘dog feet’. We often leave our home chasing vague daydreams or
due to pressing needs that motivate us to leave the country. Enclosed in a thin
piece of land between the sea and the Andes, we want to break limits and nose
around.”
Colombia: vaina [pain] (Laura
Restrepo). “We exclaim ‘¡qué vaina! [literally, what pain!] to refer to a
disaster, and ¡qué buena vaina! [literally, what good pain!] to refer
to a triumph or even salvation. In order to specify its extensive meanings, it
tends to be preceded by the demonstrative pronoun esa [that], for
example, pásame esa vaina [give me that pain] we say, signaling with
our index finger, and we can be asking for anything from a needle to an
elephant. Ya salí de esa vaina [I already got out of that pain]
alludes to any relief, from having been cured of a cold to having won a
lawsuit. For foreigners visiting this land, becoming familiar with the multiple
and versatile use of vaina will save them from having to learn
Spanish.”
Costa Rica: tuanis (Carlos Cortés). “¿Todo tuanis?”
[Everything going good?]
Cuba: asere (Wendy Guerra). “Some
people say that it means ‘I greet you,’ whereas others say that it means
‘crazy’ in the Lucumi language. “Asere” and “Asere que bola” are
the most common ways of saying hello and is distinguishes Cuba from the rest of
the world.”
Ecuador: yapa (Gabriela Alemán).
“…something additional, a gift. When I was ten years old, in all of the
bakeries in Quito they gave a yapa to regular customers. They were
one or two loaves of bread that established a friendship.”
El Salvador: cipote (Horacio
Castellanos Moya). “It is a commonly used word that is synonymous with ‘child’,
‘young’, or ‘immature adult’."
Spanish: contradiós (Álvaro Pombo).
“A Spanish colloquialism that is used to describe something that is absurd or
irrational…”
Guatemala: kaibil (Rodrigo Rey
Rosa). Word of Mayan origin used to describe a special type of commando unit,
notorious for its bloodthirsty nature, which fought in the war against the
guerillas.
Honduras: pija (María Eugenia
Ramos). It means “penis,” a word which Hondurans use to “express ourselves from
enthusiasm to indifference, through anger and altered states of consciousness.
It is used as a noun, verb, and adjective.”
Mexico: pinche (José Emilio
Pacheco). It is a derogatory word meaning “damn.”
Nicaragua: chunche (Sergio Ramírez).
“A chunche can be anything and everything, from a joker jumping up
and down without resting, to a piece of furniture, a device, a tool, or a
vehicle.” Just as with the Mexican word pinche, its ample use makes it
ubiquitous.
Panama: sinvergüenza (Carlos Wynter
Melo). It is, literally, someone who shows no shame.
Paraguay: curuvica (José Pérez
Reyes). It is a very small fragment that is the product of grinding a solid
material.
Peru: huachafo (Iván Thays). A
synonym of the word “tacky,” but goes even further by being applicable to grammar
or society: “Being a huachafo is pretending to be something one is
not…”
Puerto Rico: bregar (Mayra
Santos-Febres). “…the ubiquity of the word describes a way of life. One must bregar [to
struggle] a lot when living in Puerto Rico.”
Dominican Republic: olla (Rita
Indiana Hernández). The term indicates an unfortunate circumstance that one
fears falling into.
Uruguay: celeste (Claudia Amengual).
Meaning “light blue,” the term refers to the color of the country’s national
soccer team t-shirt as well as of the national flag.
Venezuela: bochinche (Rafael
Cadenas). Originally meaning “scandalous party,” it now is often used to mean
“disorder” or “commotion.”
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| via El País |
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