Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Pacomartin

Well Old English had more conjugations, but never as many as Latin.

Few languages outdid Latin in that respect.

McWorther's theory is that English is odd because things happened to it (ie it stewed alongside Celtic languages and then was ripped to shreds by Old Norse-speaking Vikings, then further mangled by French through the Norman conquest, etc), but also that the grandfather of Old English, Proto-Germanic, was odd to begin with because something happened to it. This is where he speculates it came under the influence of Carthaginian sailors.

The way he exemplifies most of this is by comapring Eglish to other Germanic tongues, and then Germanic tongues to other Indo-European tongues. It's very clever and quite entertaining. He's very convincing, too. And for the Alternate Historian in me, these lost pockets of history make for far mroe itneresting speculations. Suppose a Carthaginian-Germanic civilization had flourished in Germania and then spread to Gaul, what woudl that ahve meant for the development of Rome?

Oh, I got sidetracked. The point is that while Semitic languages do have various conjugations, they are more like those of Germanic languages, than Germanic languages are to other Indo-European languages. Of course, in the befuddlement department, other Germanic languages retained gender in nouns whereas English did not. In Hebrew there are genders in conjugations as well, for some pronouns. For instance (and the transliteration is with Spanish phonetics): "Ani oheb" is the masculine form of "I love." The femenine form is "Ani ohebet." So you get the same pronouns, but the conjugation depends on whether a woman or a man is speaking. Fun times! And of course there is no way to translate this at all.

I was browsing the web site for a hotel/casino in Tijuana and noticed they had a link for bolsa de trabajo. I was curious what they meant by a "bag of work," so clicked on the English version and it said "job vacancies."

Anyone know why they use the expression bolsa de trabajo? Is it like you reach your hand in the bag and see what job you get?

Quote: Wizard

I was browsing the web site for a hotel/casino in Tijuana

I'd no idea such things even existed in this country. Still, in the photos I only saw slots.

Quote:

and noticed they had a link for bolsa de trabajo.

It means jobs available in a given company, area, region, etc. Some universities, for example, post jobs from various companies in their campus, divided by department (these days I suppose they get psoted in websites).

Quote:

I was curious what they means by a "bag of work,"

Stop. Using. Literal. Translations.

Bolsa has various meanings to begin with. In a lotto game the jackpot is usually known as "La Bolsa." A brokerage house is "casa de bolsa." The stock market is "La Bolsa," (here the term may derive from the French "bourse"). You have a dictionary, right? Look it up and try to find examples. I've no idea why job offerings are often listed that way.

Quote: Nareed

I'd no idea such things even existed in this country. Still, in the photos I only saw slots.

Top rated hotels in TJ are surprisingly expensive. The slots you see are Class II (i.e. no random number generators)

That hotel is right next to the busy Otay Mesa border crossing. It was owned by the corrupt mayor of TJ. There's a house of ill repute next door which was also owned by the mayor.

On the positive side in the same shopping center is quite good Spanish food at Gypsy's.


The definition of "bolsa"in the DRAE shows several idiomatic uses. I don't know which ones are common in Mexico
~ de corporales.
~ de Dios.
~ de dormir.
~ de estudios.
~ de hierro.
~ de la compra.
~ de pobreza.
~ de trabajo.
~ marsupial.

Quote: Pacomartin

The slots you see are Class II (i.e. no random number generators.

Class II slots do use random number generators. They have a random draw of bingo balls on a random card (both using an RNG) and the player wins according to any patterns covered. However, the win is displayed to the player in the form of playing a slot machine. They are basically electronic bingo games in how the win is determined.

When I was in Cabo san Lucas earlier this year they seemed to have full class III slots at the casino in the marina.

Quote: Pacomartin

There's a house of ill repute next door which was also owned by the mayor.

How do you know such things? How about a picture of that?

Quote: Wizard

How do you know such things? How about a picture of that?

I was wandering around, and crossed into the Pueblo Amigo shopping center. I saw all these men going in, and it was done up like a beauty shop, but there was a layer of dust on the products in the window. So I peeked in and I saw all the girls lined up.

In that part of town, there are only one or two houses, but they are fairly discreet (not like Zona Norte) where there are neon signs. I wanted to see the casino (pretty unimpressive). I remember reading that Hank Rhon owned the shopping center.

The shopping center was much more lively when there was a Senor Frog's , but I always liked Gypsy's. It is very authentic. He used to work in a Spanish restaurant in San Diego, but he wanted his own place in TJ.

My recollection of "la linea" may be very inaccurate as the border is undergoing massive renovation.

Hotel Hacienda Del Rio is my recommendation for a place to stay in TJ. It is in a quiet section of town, but a short taxi ride to many places. Rooms are fairly inexpensive , but it is better to just show up and pay for a room as making a reservation means you get the gringo rate. Ask for a room in the back as traffic noise will keep you awake.
Rooms are listed on the website at 891 pesos ($67), but they will almost always drop the price by at least 15% if you show up with cash.
See Trip Advisor Reviews

If you want to spend over $100 stay at Camino Real the premier Mexican business hotel chain. It will be much nicer than Hotel Pueblo Amigo which has premium prices since it is so close to the border.
Eat at cien anos at least once



Nareed, how do you say "irascible" in Spanish? The word means having or showing a tendency to be easily angered. I am curious if your translation agrees with the dictionary.

Quote: Pacomartin

Nareed, how do you say "irascible" in Spanish? The word means having or showing a tendency to be easily angered. I am curious if your translation agrees with the dictionary.

I thought this was a trick question. the term in Spanish is "irascible," and it means a tendency or propensity towards anger. It's not a word that gets much use. I don't recall ever using it, though I've must ahve run across it in all the reading I was required to do in highschool.

Quote: Nareed

I thought this was a trick question. the term in Spanish is "irascible," and it means a tendency or propensity towards anger. It's not a word that gets much use. I don't recall ever using it, though I've must ahve run across it in all the reading I was required to do in highschool.

I have never seen a word that was identical spelling in English as in Spanish unless it was a loan word (like "chocolate"). I was curious if it was common.

It tends to be used in English in written form (see example below), but is not used in common conversation.
My Talks with Dean Spanley stars O'Toole as Horatio Fisk, an irascible, cantankerous septuagenarian living out his final days at the turn of the 20th Century.

The word "choleric" (colérico) was proposed as a synonym. But that is also a word that is seldom used in conversation, but more in written form.

In my mind a "choleric" person can easily be spun up into a violent rage, but an "irascible" person is someone who has a "level of anger/irritation. or annoyance" in every single conversation or action. I say "in my mind" because the dictionary does not make a clear distinction between the two words.

Quote: Pacomartin

I have never seen a word that was identical spelling in English as in Spanish unless it was a loan word (like "chocolate"). I was curious if it was common.

While most cognates are spelled similarly between English and Spanish (absolute - absoluto; abolition - abolición) a little research shows that I was wrong, and there is actually a fairly extensive list of words with identical spelling in both languages.

A few examples are acre, circular, triangular, sensual, solar, angular, factor, matrimonial, solo, similar, perfume, abdomen, principal, gratis, etc.

Words like "alcohol" have identical spelling in Spanish and English because it is a loan words from Arabic. The word "chocolate" is from Nahuatl.

Is the word for a loud crashing sound in Spanish cataplún o cataplúm?

Also, what does piquitos mean? Based on context, I think it means whiskers.

Finally, who is doña Pepa? I can see from Google it is a Peruvian cake, but I think the name also refers to a person.