Words which mean something in English and Spanish

A 3 hour 10% attention MSN though-shower/brainstorm/idea rain session with my friend Natacha revealed that there are lots of words which exist in both English and Spanish but have a different meaning in each language.

This was inspired by me putting my MSN name as 'No seas tan stu' which means 'Don't be such a stu' when translated, but when not translated and READ in English, it means that 'no large bodies of water give me a suntan'. Nice yeah? Wicked.

In line with the razon de ser of this blog, please phone me if you'd like to hear any of the words pronounced the Spanish way.

So. The following list is [Spanish/English] [Translation]

Tan [a lot, or much, or 'such a']

Seas [The 2nd person negative imperative of ser - 'to be' so 'Don't be' would be 'No seas'

Sea [the same as above for the 3rd person singular]

Mate [with an accent on the e, this is a herb often called yerba mate from argentina and it looks like your doing drugs when you have some, as you have a metal straw, and it's kinda odd, when someone first offered it to me i was convived they were trying to get me spannered, lovely]

Mole [this is Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl mulli or molli, "sauce"]

Mandate [2nd person singular imperative 'Send yourself' literally, asking someone to send themselves, strangely enough, this is loosely similar in meaning to the English meaning, but not etymologically linked]

Dime [2nd person singular imperative meaning 'tell me', a compound word, the etymology of dime is interesting in English where it's Middle English for tenth part, tithe, a word which is still used today, on occasion]

Dame [2nd person singular imperative, also a compound word, meaning 'give me', marginally un-PC in English as it hails from the latin 'Domus', or 'house']

Chino [this means 'Chinese' and is a type of trouser in English, ironically enough, with a Quechuan root meaning "female animal, servant."]

Era [A bit tenuous, as it still has to do with time, this is the 1st or 3rd person singular imperfect tense of ser 'to be' and it means 'was', over an extended or indeterminate period of time]

Media [this does mean what it means in English, but it also means 'tights' or 'stockings']

I'd love to add to this list, which I can't find repeated on google, so that probably fits well with my other blog notongoogle.blogspot.com, anyway, please comment me with suggestions - remember, the meaning has to be different in both languages, words like lasso and salsa are OUT yeah? OUT. Nice.

aguacate

From wikipedia:

The word avocado comes from the Spanish word aguacate, which derives in turn from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word, ahuacatl, meaning "testicle", because of its shape. In some countries of South America such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay, the avocado is known by its Quechua name, palta. In other Spanish-speaking countries it is called aguacate, and in Portuguese it is abacate. The name "avocado pear" is sometimes used in English, as is alligator pear and "butter pear." The Nahuatl ahuacatl can be compounded with other words, as in ahuacamolli, meaning "avocado soup or sauce", from which the Mexican Spanish word guacamole derives.

I want to move to Mexico.

hallazgo

I just learnt this. I like it a lot.

It means 'discovery' or 'find'

¡qué hallazgo! means 'what a find!'

How cute.

Let's voiceterface.

Brezal

This is one that for some reason I've been saying quite a lot over the past two weekends, having spent them in sight of Hampstead Heath. It's a lovely word in English and a lovely word in Spanish too.

Heath.

Brezal.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brezal is a wikipedia article which is possibly the most difficult thing to read I've ever seen as a non-native speaker.

Many thanks to faris for another great beersphere.

The Stu behind the Phone

This is me and an IRL caller, Caroline at Faris' Plannerz Drinkz last night in the Commercial Tavern.

I've just reviewed this, and it is a fucking terrible photo of both of us. Still, the only one I've got.

Así es la vida eh?

Maquinilla

This is like a pretty cute word yeah?

It means kinda little machine. '-illa', as I understand it is a sort of cutsie diminutive suffix. Máquina is the word for machine, so I'm sure you can see what's happening here.

Look forward to UR CALLZ.

Llama

I stumbled across this one, can't remember how as it's a word that I didn't hear in 18 months speaking Spanish.

It means flame, which is strange, because it means, well, Llama in English and, indeed, in Spanish.

It is also the 3rd Person Singular of the verb Llamar - To call.

Incidentally, this is the second word in a row to not have a Latin or Greek root, it comes from the Quechua, llama, which I'd guess also means Llama.

Llama?

Oh, and it's just struck me that the verb 'to call' might hail from 'calling your sheep' or other animals...maybe (?).

Azahar

Lovely. I'll move away from the poetic words tomorrow I think, but in the meantime this means orange or lemon blosssom.

It derives from Arabic, as supposed to the normal Latin/Greek rooted words from the Romance languages.

ñoño

This is a lovely word. It can be used to describe someone who's a bit of a twit.

Sorry this was so late, I've been asleep as I had a nasty headache.

Calls accepted any time.

Vergel

Good Morning,

This Spanish word means a flower or a fruit garden, I supposed the equivalent in English is some sort of secret garden or small orchard. I really like it.

Anyway, give me a bell if you want to hear it.

Pendejo

This is a Spanish word mainly used in Mexican (and other Latin American Spanish).

Broadly speaking, it means arsehole.

I'd define it more clearly but I'm a bit rushed.

Phone or text me on 00 44 7979 852 316 to hear how it's pronounced.

Also, I'd really love it if you'd leave a comment.

Thanks to the first caller, who rang me about 3 minutes after I posted this.

Not sure how that happened. But check back again tomorrow!