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Spanish expressions - Mexico and other countries

51K views 255 replies 22 participants last post by  RVGRINGO 
#1 ·
The gov't 15-minute video of the assault is riveting. "Hands up!" Then bang, bang, bang right after. Many news organizations in U.S. link to it.
What was semi-hilarious was to hear leader of the assault team shouting the Mexican warning "aguas, aguas!" before busting into one room.
I've heard a few South Americans asking Mexicans in wonder over that phrase and its derivation, and I imagine South Americans watching this video scratching their heads, seeing no water in sight.
Here's an explanation of what "¡Aguas!" means in Mexican Spanish:

"Viene de la época de la Colonia y se usaba para avisarles a los peatones que tuvieran cuidado con las aguas sucias que iban a tirar desde los balcones (no había alcantarillado)." La expresión "Aguas" | WordReference Forums [My translation: "It comes from the Colonial period and was used to warn pedestrians to watch out for the dirty water that was about to be thrown from balconies (there were no sewers)."]
 
#96 · (Edited)
Re & Requete

The prefix "re" in Spanish means the same as in English when it's used before a verb: "rehacer" = redo, "recalentar" = reheat, etc.

But before an adjective it means "very" (or the same as "muy" in Spanish).

If I like someone, "Me cae bien." If I like them a lot, "Me cae rebien." (Or "remal" for the opposite.)

If I'm mad, "Estoy enojada/o." Really mad, "Estoy reenojada/o"

Happy = feliz. Really happy = refeliz.
Difficult = difícil. Very difficult = redifícil.

To add even more emphasis, you can use "requete" instead of "re" - If I'm over the moon happy, "Estoy requetefeliz." Absolutely exhausted, "Estoy requetecansada/o".

(Also, just like in English, "super" can be added before adjectives for emphasis: superfeliz, superdifícil, supercansada/o.)
 
#128 ·
The prefix "re" in Spanish means the same as in English when it's used before a verb: "rehacer" = redo, "recalentar" = reheat, etc.

But before an adjective it means "very" (or the same as "muy" in Spanish).

If I like someone, "Me cae bien." If I like them a lot, "Me cae rebien." (Or "remal" for the opposite.)

If I'm mad, "Estoy enojada/o." Really mad, "Estoy reenojada/o"

Happy = feliz. Really happy = refeliz.
Difficult = difícil. Very difficult = redifícil.

To add even more emphasis, you can use "requete" instead of "re" - If I'm over the moon happy, "Estoy requetefeliz." Absolutely exhausted, "Estoy requetecansada/o".
Great explanation. The three gradations are “re–”, “rete–”, and “requete–”.

This also explains something that is a mystery to many Americans – why are refried beans called that? I’ve seen plenty of strained explanations that involve frying beans twice, or frying them after they’ve already been cooked.

But knowing the above, we can understand that frijoles refritos aren’t fried twice, they’re very fried — well-fried, as we would say it.
 
#97 ·
Bien mal

"Bien" is another word which can mean "very" or "really". So I may be "bien cansada" (really tired), "bien triste" (really sad), or "bien enferma/o" (very sick).

Of course, "bien" also means "good", the opposite of "mal" (bad). So I find it amusing that something really bad is "bien mal".
 
#104 ·
"Thank you for holding"

Here's another video by the same duo about navigating phone menus when calling customer service lines. It reminded me of a recent experience trying to pay my husband's cellphone bill. First we went to the bank to pay the bill. I had both the phone number and account number from the emailed bill (and the electronic version of the actual bill on the phone). The bank said none of these would suffice. I needed a "bank reference number". No bank reference number to be found on the e-mailed bill. My husband went to the car to get the original contract. Nothing on there either. I phoned Movistar - but there was no cell signal at the bank so I had to walk a couple of blocks away to finally get a signal. I called and made my way through various menu options only to get cut off. I did it again, and after navigating various options "Press 1 for..., Press 2 for ..." etc. I was finally given the option to speak to a live person. I was on hold for a bit, but when I finally spoke to the customer service rep, she was very helpful. Ironically she said the bank we were paying at shouldn't require a bank reference number, but she sent me one anyway. It sufficed, and we paid the bill. It had only taken an hour and a bit, all told... (We paid our property tax the same day, and that only took about 5 minutes.)

The video is in Spanish but I think the frustration is universal. Here's a summarized translation:

The beginning is full of the usual platitudes of how important the client is, thank you for your patience, your call is very important, etc. etc.

Then it moves to the 15 menu options:
Press 1 to repeat the welcome, press 2 if you've wasted the whole day on the phone, press 3 if the previous options aren't clear, press 4 if you wish to hear further options.

Press 5 if you called for a request, complaint or resource, press 6 if you want to participate in a contest.

Press 8 for background music, press 9 if you want to know what happened to option 7.

Press 10 for Spanish, for English press 11, if you speak a different language you'd best hang up or press 12.

Press 13 or 14 if you are feeling bewildered, press 15 to go back to the beginning.

Near the end in writing they thank the various companies/agencies for teaching us to value our time and cultivate the gift of patience. At the very end he hears a recorded message saying the customer service line is open "Monday to Friday from 5 to 5:30. We're sorry. Goodbye."

 
#105 ·
Here's another video...
Another great example where the humor is a commentary on something considered typical in our daily lives... more so in customer service there in Mexico. I've never heard of or seen this musical duo... where are they from? In the first video, I thought they were native-English speakers because of their accents in it... in this video they don't seem to have a "******" accent at all! Well Done!!
 
#107 ·
Yes I love answering machine, so positive always so flowery and polite and most of the time totally useless. I love the way they disconnect you too. Have a nice day and then nothing so you can dial again and try to find a non existent human.
The San Cristobal Megacabe solve the problem, they put their phone on fax...
 
#113 · (Edited)
"Al pie de la letra"

The phrase “al pie de la letra” is one I use fairly often, but the other day as I was saying it, I realized how funny it sounds if translated literally to English: “At the foot of the letter”.

As a clue to its actual meaning, it is a phrase I often use when giving my Spanish-speaking patients medical instructions, e.g. for taking medications. “Hay que seguir las instrucciones al pie de la letra.”

So you probably guessed, it means “exactly” or idiomatically “to a T” (which is also kind of a funny way of saying it, I guess).

I wonder what the origin of this phrase is? It's not regional, at least it is used throughout Latin America. Those of you who have lived in Spain can chime in if it is also used there.
 
#116 ·
Here is an expression that could possibly be unique to Mexico, actually it is used in several variations.

Cada ocho (or 15) dias meaning once a week (or every 2 weeks). The logic of phrasing it this way generally escapes non-native speakers and even native speakers from some other countries.
 
#117 ·
"Unique to Mexico?" I hardly think so. In this instance, the expression of course extends outside the Hispanic community to the noted sage and philosopher Sir Ringo Starr, first bursting out to the greater world in 1964.

"Eight Days a Week"
Song by the Beatles from the album Beatles for Sale
Published Northern Songs Ltd.
Released 4 December 1964
Recorded 6 October 1964
EMI Studios, London
Genre Rock[1]
Length 2:44
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin

"Eight Days a Week" is a song by The Beatles written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon based on McCartney's original idea,[3]
Contents [hide]

Paul McCartney has attributed the inspiration of the song to at least two different sources. In a 1984 interview with Playboy, he credited the title to Ringo Starr, who was noted for his malapropisms, which are credited as the source of other song titles (such as "A Hard Day's Night" and "Tomorrow Never Knows"):
LINDA: Ringo also said, 'Eight days a week.'
PAUL: Yeah, he said it as though he were an overworked chauffeur. (in heavy accent) 'Eight days a week.' (laughter) When we heard it, we said, 'Really? Bing! Got it!'[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Days_a_Week

I'm open to argument that the expression "ocho dias" is slightly older.
 
#118 · (Edited)
al pie de la letra:

RAE (letra)
5. f. Sentido propio y exacto de las palabras empleadas en un texto, por oposición al sentido figurado.

RAE (pie)
3. Base o parte en que se apoya algo.

Wikilingua cites a source that says the expression goes back to when Latin was scribed into Spanish and the instructions were to do a literal translation below each word. (BTW, that sounds like a horrible translation method). If that is true, I would think somewhere around 800-1100 AD would be when it started.
 
#124 ·
I too wish someone would research this expression. It really is quite logical "inside of 8 days" = "7 days" = 1 week. Is it really just a Mexican expression? I did a quick check of the RAE CREA corpus and most of the hits where from Spain, just a few from Mexico (surprisingly few hits, about 60 - 70 total). All examples were within the last 25 years or so but I know the expression has been around longer than that.
 
#135 · (Edited)
And the nueve días is like the second funeral after a person has died and you have finished praying the nine days of the novena. It is held ‘nueve días’ or one week plus one day (or what we would call eight days) after the funeral.

I don’t know how generalized this custom is, but it was new to me when I came to Mexico. In my experience the nueve días is celebrated with a mass and a meal on the same scale as the original funeral. In between the mass and the meal, there is a visit to the cemetery to pray the rosary at the graveside again. It could potentially even be bigger than the original funeral, since people are more informed about the death and have more advance notice to plan to attend.
 
#139 ·
And the nueve días is like the second funeral after a person has died and you have finished praying the nine days of the novena. It is held ‘nueve días’ or one week plus one day (or what we would call eight days) after the funeral. I don’t know how generalized this custom is, but it was new to me when I came to Mexico. In my experience the nueve días is celebrated with a mass and a meal on the same scale as the original funeral. In between the mass and the meal, there is a visit to the cemetery to pray the rosary at the graveside again. It could potentially even be bigger than the original funeral, since people are more informed about the death and have more advance notice to plan to attend.
This may work for the Catholics
 
#144 · (Edited)
I found an explanation but it is in Spanish and supposedly only English is allowed on the board. If the mods will allow it I will post a cite and a link where the cite is from.

But yes, it is a Latin thing although its roots may be from a region other than Rome. It started with the nundinae or a period of time marked in 9 day increments.
 
#138 ·
Today I asked one of my patients from the Dominican Republic about "en 8 días/15 días" and she said they also use it for 1 week/2weeks in the DR. So I asked if she was supposed to follow up in 8 days, when would she come back? Next week Wednesday (today being Wednesday). Follow-up in 15 days? 2 weeks Wednesday. So far so good...

"And if I tell you to follow-up en 3 días, what day would you come back?"
"Saturday"
"Not Friday? Don't you include today in the counting of the three days?"
"No, en 3 días sería sábado." :confused:

Regarding "día por medio", she said it would be understood in the DR, but rarely used or heard. I think it's definitely a South American phrase.
 
#147 ·
Here is the explanation I found concerning the use and origin of "cada 8 dias".


"Como se ha dicho, la semana la heredamos de los romanos. Pero en realidad es de origen mesapotámico. Los romanos, aparte de dividir su calendarío en meses, antes del s. III a.C..originariamente dividían su tiempo en la práctica en nundinas (nundinae). Eran periodos de nueve días, ocho días corrientes y un noveno que era día del mercado, feria y encuentros. Pero ese noveno día ya se consideraba el primer día de la siguiente nundina, con lo cual en la práctica, las nundinas eran periodos de ocho días. De esa larga costumbre quedan restos en el lenguaje, pues las personas de mucha edad, al menos en España, áun dicen a veces "nos vemos dentro de 8 días", "voy al medico cada 8 días", para referirse a periodos exactos de una semana, cuando sabemos que la semana tiene 7 días, pero sabemos que de todos modos se refieron a una semana (es porque la primitiva periodizacíon romana era exactamente de 8 días)."

D?AS DE LA SEMANA
 
#148 ·
Maybe, but I’m skeptical that that’s the true explanation. It sounds like some folk etymology, thought up to fit the facts. I think the reason the usage is ‘ocho días’ is because a week from today is eight days away counting both today and the last day of the period.

As evidence I submit that if it is due to the old Roman eight-day week, then why do we say ‘quince días’ for two weeks? Again, two weeks from today is 15 days if you count today and the last day of the period, but it would be 16 days if you are basing it on two ancient Roman weeks.
 
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