Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Wizard

The assignment for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common etymology with the English word comb, which is for the purpose of to make hair straight.

The words are unrelated. The English word comes from an Old English word that once referred to honeycombs, and the Spanish word comes from other words that meant "valley"

Quote: Wizard

Fecha: 25-11-13
Palabra: Combar

where did you didg that up? Literally I've never come across this word before. It sounds like what people up north do to English words, like "parquear" and "marqueta" (parking and market respectively).

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Today's SWD mean to bend/curl.

The common word for that is "rizar." The general term is "peinar" means "to style hair," though it should mean only "to comb hair."

Quote: Nareed

where did you didg that up?

Do you remember the story when Charlotte's cousin caught a fish in her web?

¿No eres capaz de imaginarte la telaraña, peligrosamente combada bajo el peso del pez?

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Literally I've never come across this word before. It sounds like what people up north do to English words, like "parquear" and "marqueta" (parking and market respectively).

My tutor abhors the word parquear. However, I've seen that word used in both Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Maybe it was originally Spanglish, but I think you've lost the war on that one, and it has become part of the language now.


I took this picture myself in Jaco, Costa Rica, as a gift for my tutor.


Here is one in Nicaragua. Note the E, which I assume is for estacionar.

Anyway, I don't think we can blame Spanglish on combar. I think the translator likes to use high-brow words here and there.

Quote: Nareed

where did you dig that up? Literally I've never come across this word before.

Once again, when the DRAE says that word does not come from Latin, Nareed rarely recognizes the word, or finds it obscure.

Quote: Wizard

Do you remember the story when Charlotte's cousin caught a fish in her web?

I find it very hard to remember books I haven't read. I'm weird like that.

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My tutor abhors the word parquear.

There is a perfectly proper Spanish word for parking aside from estacionar: aparcar.

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Anyway, I don't think we can blame Spanglish on combar. I think the translator likes to use high-brow words here and there.

Possibly, I only said it sounds like a Spanglish adaptation.

How do you curl a spiderweb, anyway? With a very small curling iron? ;)

Quote: Pacomartin

Once again, when the DRAE says that word does not come from Latin, Nareed rarely recognizes the word, or finds it obscure.

Oh, not really. there are plenty of non-latin words around everyone uses, like algerbra (that was Spanish), or alquimia, or folder (also Spanish), just off the top of my head. ;)

Quote: Nareed

I find it very hard to remember books I haven't read. I'm weird like that.

I can't imagine a childhood without La Teleraña de Carlota. It is a children's classic.

Speaking of which, if you can recommend any books originally written in Spanish, at about an age 10-12 level, I'm all ears. As you can see, the Spanish books available here are usually translations of English books.

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How do you curl a spiderweb, anyway? With a very small curling iron? ;)

You build a web inches above a stream. Then wait for fish to jump out of the water and into the web. The weight of the fish pulls it down.

Quote: Wizard

I can't imagine a childhood without La Teleraña de Carlota. It is a children's classic.

I'm guessing some part of "insect phobia" doesn't get through to people.

More seriously, I remember hearing of it, and there was a movie, or movies, about it. That's about all I know. I wasn't that big on children's books, either. I hit my reading addiction around age 10, starting with an account of the Titanic.

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Speaking of which, if you can recommend any books originally written in Spanish, at about an age 10-12 level, I'm all ears. As you can see, the Spanish books available here are usually translations of English books.

Again, not very interested in children's books. We had some around the house, but most were the usual fairy tales and/or Disney stories. I do vividly recall a boxed set of very thin, illustrated books accompanied by records giving a fuller narration (hey! sort of like a primitive audiobook with ancillary PDF files!) But those were all about Disney movies. I liked "Lady and the Tramp," but not much else (especially not Pinochio).

Seriously, I can't think of one. There must be some, of course. Have you tried Amazon in Spanish?

Quote: Nareed

Oh, not really. there are plenty of non-latin words around everyone uses, like algerbra (that was Spanish), or alquimia, or folder (also Spanish), just off the top of my head. ;)

Perhaps my statement was to strong. But to be fair the Arab conquest of present day Spain was in the 9th century and castellano antiguo did not become distinct from a vernacular spoken Latin until the 10th century. So Arabic influence was present from the beginning. So Arabic origin words like "álgebra", and "alquimia" have been used for a long time.

I should really have said it the other way around. If you say the word is new to you, or that it is very unusual, it invariably is a Spanish word that was adopted from something other than Latin (Italian, Galician, Welsh, etc.). But Arabic is the largest non-Latin influence in Spanish

Clearly one of the most obvious non-Latin influences on Spanish.


I have yet to come across a non-Latin based word in Spanish that has completely replaced the Latin one.

In English the verb "to use" is a Latin verb that has almost completely replaced the Old English brucan. On occasion the verb "to brook" is sometimes used as a colorful way to say "to endure", but outside of highly stylized speech, you never hear it.

Quote: Pacomartin

Perhaps my statement was to strong. But to be fair the Arab conquest of present day Spain was in the 9th century and castellano antiguo did not become distinct from a vernacular spoken Latin until the 10th century. So Arabic influence was present from the beginning. So Arabic origin words like "álgebra", and "alquimia" have been used for a long time.

I hear "cero" is also of arabic origin.

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I should really have said it the other way around. If you say the word is new to you, or that it is very unusual, it invariably is a Spanish word that was adopted from something other than Latin (Italian, Galician, Welsh, etc.). But Arabic is the largest non-Latin influence in Spanish

Well, maybe. Except Italian is the Romance language. Pretty much it is modern vulgar Latin. Meaning, in this context, that Italian influences and Latin influences are hard to tell apart. Even words derived from French are taken as being thoroughly Spanish, like for example "chofer." French, now, is a Romance language, too, but let's not forget the Franks were a Germanic people with a Germanic language when they took Gaul away from Rome. I think that's why their pronunciation amkes it seem so different from the other Romance languages.

Ok. That's enough Romance references for one day ;) Though as someone involved in journalism, I suppose you can appreciate the problems posed by not having good synonims for the main discussion topic.