Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Wizard

Lupe says the word for a pig pen is chiquero.

Sure. You also know what a plow and a furrow are. That doesn't mean you use the words frequently.

Quote:

For extra credit, is there a common etymology between chiquero y charco. It is called a chiquero because pigs like to play in charcos de lodo?

No clue. Only the sneaking suspicion that words starting with "ch" are derived either from French or some more obscure language.

Quote: Nareed

Sure. You also know what a plow and a furrow are. That doesn't mean you use the words frequently.

I didn't know what a furrow was, but plow part of everyday speech.

How common is acequia is Spanish? You might be surprised I knew that word, because it is the name of a vineyard in Argentina I like.

Getting back to fregadero, here is a sentence from a book I'm reading.

Luego se acercó al fregadero, se lavó las manos y se las secó con una toalla.

Finally, I know that the word yeso generally means plaster, but can it also mean something one might eat for breakfast?

Quote: Wizard

I didn't know what a furrow was, but plow part of everyday speech.

I'd be willing to bet that, without making an effort, you couldn't go a month using "plow" at least once a day. But there's no way to resolve it.

Quote:

How common is acequia is Spanish?

I'd never come across it before to the best of my memory.

Quote:

Finally, I know that the word yeso generally means plaster, but can it also mean something one might eat for breakfast?

I hope not. It can also mean a cast applied to a broken limb, though these days I understand fiberglass or some other composite is used.

Quote: Nareed

I'd be willing to bet that, without making an effort, you couldn't go a month using "plow" at least once a day. But there's no way to resolve it.

You'd probably win. I don't say it every day, but it is a word everybody knows, and uses on occasion, even in non-farming contexts. Like, "I had to plow my way through the Christmas shopping crowds."

Quote:

I hope not. It can also mean a cast applied to a broken limb, though these days I understand fiberglass or some other composite is used.

Well, it just doesn't seem to go with the rest of this sentence I'm reading from:

Quote: La Telaraña de Carlota

La mesa de la conina estaba preparada para el desayuno y la habitación olia a cafe, a tocino, a yeso humedo y al húmo de la madera que ardía en el fogón.

No, I don't have the English version to compare it to.

As long as I wrote that, why didn't the translator use leña instead of madera?

Quote: Wizard

For extra credit, is there a common etymology between chiquero y charco.

It is possible, the dictionary says charco is imitative, and chiquero is Moorish.

Quote: Wizard

Finally, I know that the word yeso generally means plaster, but can it also mean something one might eat for breakfast?

Web search turns up plaster refrigerator magnets of food

Nareed,
most Americans have never seen a pigsty either, but it is still a common everyday term especially for older people: "This room is a pigsty".

Fecha: 23-10-13
Palabra: Madrugar

Today's SWD means to get up early. I can't think of an equivalent single English word.

The question for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common prefix with the word madre. Perhaps mothers have to get up early to take care of crying babies.

Ejemplo time.

Ginger madrugó para lavar su cabello. = Ginger got up early to wash her hair.

Quote: Wizard

The question for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common prefix with the word madre. Perhaps mothers have to get up early to take care of crying babies.

Possibly there is a connection, but it would be way back before Latin

"madre" is from Latin "mater" which is a from a common Proto Indo European word which has descendants in all IE languages
Russian мать (mat’), Persian مادر (madar), Mycenaean Greek (ma-te-re), and Sanskrit मातृ (mātṛ).

"madrugar" is ultimately from Latin "maturo" where we get English "mature". I don't think it is the fact that old people get up early, but "mature" also means to hasten, ripen, soften, accelerate, precipitate, rush, and make haste. Some of these ideas are more associated with wine, or cheese.

Latin "maturo" also has the Spanish descendants "madurar" and "maduro" which means "to mature" and "wood".

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Incidentally, I think most Spanish speakers say "me levanto" (literally "I lift myself" but better translated as "I awoke") rather than a more literal translation of "I got up".

I don't know the etymologies involved, but madrugar comes from madrugada, meaning very early in the morning. This usually means before dawn, but it can also mean at dawn. Of course some people will speak of "a las 10 de la madrugada," meaning for them 10 am is very early.

Fecha: 24-10-13
Palabra: Excavar

Today's SWD means to dig/excavate.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast cavar y excavar. Also, if there is the word excavate in English, then why isn't there a word cavate, or is there?

Ejemplo time.

Gilligan excava para tesoro enterrado. = Gilligan is digging for buried treasure.