Use and Origin of the word “che”
It’s difficult to walk the streets of Buenos Aires without hearing the word “che” at some point. In fact, Spanish speakers in some countries such as Mexico so strongly associate this word with the people of Argentina that they’ll occasionally refer to an Argentine as “un che.” Although most commonly used in Argentina and Uruguay, […]
A Linguistic Feature of Rioplatense Spanish: Hablar en capicúa
Rioplatense or River Plate Spanish, the dialect of Spanish spoken in and around Buenos Aires, Argentina, is characterized by a number of features, most notably the use of voseo and Lunfardo slang; however, a lesser-known phenomenon called “hablar en capicúa” or “hablar en sánguche” also exists within the dialect. Hablar en capicúa (known in English […]
“Spanglish” Finds Its Way into the Spanish-Speaking World’s Most Prestigious Dictionary
The Real Academia Española (RAE), the Spanish-speaking world’s language authority, is finally rolling out the welcome mat for the word “Spanglish” (or espanglish, as the term is written in Spanish). The RAE plans to incorporate the word into the 2014 edition of its master reference work known as the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española […]
The meaning of ‘fiaca’
Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a […]
The Meaning of ‘Chamuyar’ / ‘Chamullar’
Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a […]
New Additions to the Dictionary of the Real Academia Española (DRAE)
Last Friday, the Real Academia Española—the absolute authority on all aspects of the Spanish language—updated its online dictionary by means of 1,697 modifications, including new words, abbreviations, anglicisms and more. This update constitutes the fifth revision to the venerable dictionary since 2001. With an average of more than 2,000,000 visits per day, the DRAE is […]
Spanish Words Disguised as English
Long before the hybrid Spanglish came on the scene, the two languages—Spanish and English—were mixing it up in dusty border towns and far-flung tropical locales. Over the years, English has been enriched by the addition of numerous Spanish loan words, some borrowed with virtually no changes while others have been anglicized to a certain extent, […]
The Fate of the Spanish Language in the United States
The Spanish language is putting up a valiant fight. With 52 million Hispanics in the U.S. and the number of Spanish speakers on the rise, it looks as though Spanish is here to stay; however, historically speaking, the United States has earned a reputation as the place where good languages go to die. In the […]
English Words that Take on Alter Egos in Spanish
As a non-native speaker of Spanish, it’s a given that certain words will occasionally throw me for a loop during the course of a conversation. What I don’t generally expect is that those words will be from my own language! A number of words such as chequear (to check) and frizar (to freeze) have passed […]
Is Spanish a Sexist Language?
It seems that political correctness knows no bounds. With feminist groups and a handful of linguistic scholars leading the charge, so-called “inclusive language” has slowly crept into Spanish in the last few years. In other words, what once passed for perfectly acceptable and grammatically correct Spanish is now labeled machista or sexist, with some academics […]
