Spanish Word of the Day

Thanks, Paco, for the above lesson on insects.

Fecha: 3-11-13
Palabra: Serenar

Today's SWD means to calm down.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common etymology with the English word serene.

For extra credit, compare and contrast serenar y calmar.

Ejemplo time.

¡Serena, Gilligan, o te pegaré con mi gorra! = Calm down, Gilligan, or I will hit you with my cap!

Yes, English "serene", and "serenade" are both cognates of Spanish "serenar" as they all come from the same Latin word. Certainly the English verb "to calm" and Spanish verb "calmar" are cognates.

There is an English word "cauma" used in medicine which means "heat" as in a fever. It comes from a Latin word with the same spelling which refers to mid-day heat. It may be the source of the words "calm" and "calmar".

I think the verb "cálmate" is more appropriate in your sentence (imperative with clitic "te")

From googling it seems that "serenos" is often used to describe police actions designed to calm down a crowd.

Fecha: 4-11-13
Palabra: Divagar

Today's SWD means to ramble on/digress.

The question for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common etymology with the English word divide. Perhaps to divagar is to divide the conversation into multiple topics. I also wonder where we get the word divine.

Ejemplo time.

Sr. Howell divaga por el dinero de nuevo. = Mr. Howell is rambling on about money again.

English "to divide" would go with Spanish "dividir".

Spanish "divagar" is a synonym of "vagar" which is a cognate with English "vagabond".

In this case the prefix di- means "twice as much"

Fecha: 5-11-13
Palabra: Titubear

Today's SWD means to hesitate.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast titubear y vacilar.

Ejemplo time.

El profesor titubeó antes de le pedió a Gilligan para ayuda. = The professor hesitated before asking Gilligan for help.

Nareed may have to weigh in here, but in some places it sounds like "titubear" primarily means "to stutter" and "to hesitate" is a secondary meaning.

The primary meaning of "vacilar" is "to hesitate". I think it may mean the same as "vacillate". It also has colloquial meaning of "to spy on".

Google Translate offers up "titubear" and "vacilar" and "dudar" (to doubt) as alternatives.

Fecha: 6-11-13
Palabra: Rabo

Today's SWD means tail.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast rabo y cola.

Ejemplo time.

Mary Ann hacerá sopa rabo de buey para cena. = Mary Ann will make ox tail soup for dinner.

Quote: Wizard

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast rabo y cola.

It seems as if "rabo" is used exclusively for food as in ox-tail, but "cola" is for living animals and coat tails.

The word "cola" comes from the Latin word "coda" that we primarily use in English for the end part of music. T
he word "rabo" comes from the Latin word for turnip.

Quote: Pacomartin

It seems as if "rabo" is used exclusively for food as in ox-tail, but "cola" is for living animals and coat tails.

La telaraña de Carlota uses rabo to refer to Wilbur's tail.

Quote: Wizard

La telaraña de Carlota uses rabo to refer to Wilbur's tail.

I was sort of guessing by photos that come up from a Google search

The primary DRAE definitions are identical except for gender
cola (Del lat. vulg. coda, y este del lat. cauda). f. Extremidad posterior del cuerpo y de la columna vertebral de algunos animales.
rabo (Del lat. rapum, nabo). m. cola (‖ extremidad de la columna vertebral de algunos animales). Rabo de zorra

The word "rabo" has a lot of colloquial meanings including vulgar ones.

The suffix "-less" in English is from an Old English and means "devoid of". The word "colales" is translated as thong or G-string. I took "-les" as the same meaning "-less", but I could be wrong. The word is not in any dictionary, but seems to be commonly used in advertisements.