Spanish Word of the Day

Fecha: 23-5-13
Palabra: Herradura

Today's SWD means horseshoe. The question for the advanced readers is whether the prefix is from the same root as hierro (iron). In other words, is a horseshoe a "hard iron"?

I thought iron was always supposed to be hard. Then again, I know there are different types of iron, like wrought iron, and cast iron, depending mostly on the carbon content. I'd imagine they would make horseshoes especially hard, at the expense of appearance.

Ejemplo time.

Las herraduras deben apuntar hacia arriba, o la suerte se derrame. = Horseshoes should point up, lest the luck spill out.


Image source: prod.static.colts.clubs.nfl.com

Note: For those who don't know, horseshoes are supposed to be drawn or hung with the open part facing up, because they are supposed to hold luck, and it would spill out if upside-down.

In other news, I'd be interested in the quality of the translation of my article on the casinos of Costa Rica.

English: http://wizardofodds.com/blog/costa-rica-casinos/.
Spanish: http://lasapuestas.mx/blog/costa-rica-casinos/.

Quote: Wizard

Today's SWD means horseshoe. The question for the advanced readers is whether the prefix is from the same root as hierro (iron). In other words, is a horseshoe a "hard iron"?
I thought iron was always supposed to be hard. Then again, I know there are different types of iron, like wrought iron, and cast iron, depending mostly on the carbon content. I'd imagine they would make horseshoes especially hard, at the expense of appearance.

The word "dura" has 18 definitions in the RAE as an adjective alone. I think that the 3rd definition "Fuerte, que resiste y soporta bien la fatiga." with the idea of resisting fatigue and providing good support is a little more accurate than just "hard", which is more limited in meaning.

They have been making some kinds of steel for thousands of years, but it was only with the industrial revolution that production techniques became more efficient. I would only consider iron as hard compared to other natural materials that were easy to procure.

Quote: Pacomartin

I would only consider iron as hard compared to other natural materials that were easy to procure.

Isn't is still hard by today's standards? What other metals are harder? We need to call in Doc for this one.

Quote: Wizard

Isn't is still hard by today's standards? What other metals are harder? We need to call in Doc for this one.

Well nickel, copper, chromium, and tungsten are harder. Plus dozens of less common metals like cobalt, titanium, molybdenum and uranium.
In general, iron is considered hard, but people have been making alloys for thousands of years to make it harder and less brittle.

Now iron is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust behind Oxygen, Silicon, and Aluminum. But the process of extracting aluminum in large quantities is 20th century and requires a lot of electricity.

The 1884 price of aluminum was approximately $1 per ounce, the same as the then prevailing market price of silver, which was considered a precious metal. The world production of new mine silver in 1884 was approximately 2,834 tonnes. Best reported estimates for world aluminum production in 1884 were 3.6 tonnes, most of it in France and England and some in Germany.

Quote: Pacomartin

Well nickel, copper, chromium, and tungsten are harder. Plus dozens of less common metals like cobalt, titanium, molybdenum and uranium.

Thanks, I didn't know that.

Fecha: 26-5-13
Palabra: Pasamontañas

According to my dictionary, today's SWD is a balaclava. What is the heck is a balaclava, you might ask. Well, according to dictionary.com it is a ski mask, in particular the kind that covers almost your whole head. It is pretty easy to see the etymology of the Spanish word.

The question for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common etymology with the clava in balaclava and the Spanish clavar (to hammar).

Ejemplo time.

Voy a llevar una pasamontañas para el robo del banco. = I'm going to wear a balaclava for the bank robbery.

Quote: Wizard

The question for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common etymology with the clava in balaclava and the Spanish clavar (to hammar).

If they are cognates it would have to be in Proto Indo European. Turkish is not an Indo-European language, but some of the languages spoken in modern day Turkey are IE. Many place names around the world are holdovers from other languages (like many place names in US are from indigenous language).

One word is from the Turkish balıklava (“fishing ground”) which is the name of a city and the site of a battle involving the British 1850's during the Crimean War. Upon hearing that their troops were freezing, there was a grassroots movement in Britain to begin knitting masks to keep the troops warm. The one thing that parts of Britain has, is an abundance of sheep. The troops adopted the name of the battle location to the mask. It must be a loan word into Spanish.

The other word is from Latin and refers to nails, clasps, and keys. So "clavar" is a verb that literally means "to nail something".

Quote: Pacomartin

Well nickel, copper, chromium, and tungsten are harder. Plus dozens of less common metals like cobalt, titanium, molybdenum and uranium.

Titanium is stronger, but not harder, than steel (steel being an iron variety). There are a few guns made of titanium, but their barrels are steel because titanium isn't hard enough to retain grooves over repeated firings.

Quote: Wizard

Today's SWD means horseshoe. The question for the advanced readers is whether the prefix is from the same root as hierro (iron).

Yes. but the actual meaning may be altogether different. The word possibly goes back to Roman times, and much changed from Latin to Vulgar Latin over the centuries. Consider a common word like eqqus means horse, and from that we derive equestrian, equian, etc. But in Spanish the word for horse is caballo (and in Italian i think it's cavalo or cavallo).

So, do you suppose if someone painted the Colt's helmets with the horseshoes pointing down, the QB would spill out of his uniform?

In Classical Latin, the word equus is used for a horse, and caballus is used only by the poets. It's only later, in Vulgar and Late Latin, that caballus appears in prose.

Quote: Nareed

Yes. but the actual meaning may be altogether different. The word possibly goes back to Roman times, and much changed from Latin to Vulgar Latin over the centuries.

The Latin word for iron is ferrum which is obviously retained in English as "ferrous". I am not sure if Spanish has the same superstition about an upside down horseshoe.


Steel is an alloy involving iron. It is not normally referred to as a "type of iron". And normally it is much harder than pure iron.

Quote: Pacomartin

The Latin word for iron is ferrum which is obviously retained in English as "ferrous". I am not sure if Spanish has the same superstition about an upside down horseshoe.

Ferrum morphed in Spanish eventually to Hierro, though the word Fierro is a synonym.

I'm not well versed in superstitions, but I've never heard any in Mexico concerning horseshoes.

Quote:

Steel is an alloy involving iron. It is not normally referred to as a "type of iron". And normally it is much harder than pure iron.

Well, yes, but you also cannot make titanium alloys as hard as steel. Also, in ancient times alloys mostly were the metal with whatever impurities it contained. Sure refining did exist, otherwise you'd be stuck with rocky ores rather than metals; but it wasn't as sophisticated as it is now. Thus the famous Damascus Steel very likely was dirty iron with a lucky content of nickel impurities.