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Carron

Mar 14, 2009, 3:03 PM

Post #1 of 36 (11654 views)

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Como se dice "plumber"? & discusson of Dictionaries

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We need to ask our hardware store manager to recommend a plumber to repair our boiler. I looked up the word in my Larousse dictionary and it gave two options: "fontanero" or "gasliter". I can't actually imagine either of these tripping lightly off the tongue of the locals here. Is there a better option??

(Answer quickly, please, because I have just come in from the ranch and am in desperate need of a hot shower!!)

(This post was edited by DavidMcL on May 9, 2009, 1:03 PM)

tashby

Mar 14, 2009, 3:11 PM

Post #2 of 36 (11639 views)

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Re: [Carron] Como se dice "plumber"?

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I always thought it was simply "plomero".

Carron

Mar 14, 2009, 3:18 PM

Post #3 of 36 (11635 views)

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Re: [tashby] Como se dice "plumber"?

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That was my guess as well, since the plumbing supply place is called a "plomeria". Sounds a lot better than what was in the dictionary. Thanks.

sergiogomez / Moderator

Mar 14, 2009, 8:50 PM

Post #4 of 36 (11610 views)

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Re: [Carron] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Plomero is the right word. I've never heard a Spanish-speaker say fontanero, much less gasliter. Seems like some dictionaries, not to mention textbooks, could use a reality check. Or an update. But by all means, yes, ¡necesito un plomero, de emergencia!

Carron

Mar 15, 2009, 1:18 PM

Post #5 of 36 (11585 views)

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Re: [sergiogomez] Como se dice "plumber"?

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When I toddled off to college in the East many years ago after having been raised in the South, I had a miserable time in my advanced Spanish class. My mom, who was also the librarian at my old high school, kindly sent me an English/Spanish dictionary that was the size of most antique family Bibles---huge. Although I tried to use it a few times, it was just about useless. The words weren't right. Seems I can say the same for my fat paperback edition by Larousse, which is only a few years old.

For example, I recently used it to look up the word for "ewe" (female sheep). It gave the translation as "oveja". When I used this word with a neighbor who was looking to buy one of my lambs, he corrected me and explained that a female sheep is a "borrega", just as a ram is a "borrego".

Rolly

Mar 15, 2009, 1:54 PM

Post #6 of 36 (11580 views)

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Re: [Carron] Como se dice "plumber"?

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I have found that most of the bilingual dictionaries, online and paper, are for Castellano Spanish. I'm still looking for a good Mexican Spanish dictionary.

Rolly Pirate

Carron

Mar 15, 2009, 2:12 PM

Post #7 of 36 (11577 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Como se dice "plumber"?

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So am I! If anyone finds one, please pass the info along to the rest of us who don't live in Spain but need to function in every day Mexican Spanish.

My husband tells us that he doesn't speak Spanish; he speaks Mexican and gets along fine. And he is right.

tashby

Mar 15, 2009, 3:49 PM

Post #8 of 36 (11568 views)

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Re: [Carron] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Now you have me curious. I was pretty sure my pocket dictionary was LaRousse, so I dug it out and it is. I think I bought it in Morelia, but not sure. Definitely in Mexico.

In it, plumber is definitely indicated as plomero, with no mention of fontanero or gasliter. So apparently LaRousse can't even agree with itself.

8-)

It's a 10th edition, printed in Mexico City, and in the preface reads that "the Spanish represents both 'pre-Hispanic' usage and the diverse special forms and senses found throughout Latin America".

"ewe" however is translated to "oveja hembra".

Suerte.

Carron

Mar 15, 2009, 4:22 PM

Post #9 of 36 (11565 views)

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Re: [tashby] Como se dice "plumber"?

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I am in town for the weekend and my dictionary is out at the ranch so I can't quote the edition. While my copy is a paperback, it is about 3 inches thick and definitely not something one would carry in a pocket! I bought it in the US maybe 12 years ago just before I moved to Mexico.

Maybe I should buy a newer edition, printed in Mexico. Do you think??????? Thanks for your post.

tashby

Mar 15, 2009, 5:26 PM

Post #10 of 36 (11556 views)

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Re: [Carron] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Mine won't fit in anybody's pocket either. It's paperback, but about the size of your average John Grisham yarn.

colibri1

Mar 16, 2009, 7:05 AM

Post #11 of 36 (11526 views)

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Re: [Carron] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Larousse has improved considerably since your edition was printed. We have the paper-backs in each vehicle and the shop/office with the hard-back at home. The hard-back, published in 2004, included a CD-ROM version & is a wonderful re-source for idioms as well. It's just fascinating to learn the different uses for a word and the different words used in various locales.
Something I've taken to doing is, after I've found the Spanish word for the English, I look it up in the Spanish section for a more complete explanation and examples of usage.
You could also buy a Larousse diccionario de Sinonimos Antonimos e Ideas Afines. They also include regional Latin American words.
Happy learning!
M

(This post was edited by colibri1 on Mar 16, 2009, 7:07 AM)

Carron

Mar 16, 2009, 7:28 AM

Post #12 of 36 (11519 views)

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Re: [colibri1] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Thanks for the suggestion. I will go directly to my amazon.com account and order one. Certainly sounds like I need it, right!!

Also agree with your suggestion that I flip the Spanish word over to the English portion of the dictionary. I have done this on other occasions and found just what I was looking for. The words in the two sections do not always match so they give an interesting starting point.

Rolly

Mar 16, 2009, 7:48 AM

Post #13 of 36 (11513 views)

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Re: [colibri1] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Please, give us the exact title of the Larousse dictionary you have. Larousse has so many books listed at Powell's that I have not been able to filter out the one you describe.

Rolly Pirate

Carron

Mar 16, 2009, 12:57 PM

Post #14 of 36 (11498 views)

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Re: [colibri1] Como se dice "plumber"?

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I just got back into town from a quick trip out to the ranch to feed my livestock. Checked my Larouse dictionary there and found it was printed in 1999 in Paris, France. No wonder I am so out of date.

esperanza

Mar 16, 2009, 1:58 PM

Post #15 of 36 (11491 views)

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Re: [tashby] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Fontanero is commonly used in Guadalajara, Ajijic, and Morelia--the three places I've lived most recently. I've seen many hand-lettered signs: FONTANERO Tel XXXXXXXX.

Next time you have to call your plumber, when he answers the phone ask, "Es usted el fontanero?" He'll say yes, if it is indeed he.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

(This post was edited by esperanza on Mar 16, 2009, 2:06 PM)

sergiogomez / Moderator

Mar 16, 2009, 8:21 PM

Post #16 of 36 (11465 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Interesting. I have friends and family from Chihuahua, Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California, Nuevo León, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico City, Veracruz, Chiapas, Cozumel, Durango, Morelos, and Guerrero, and I've only heard fontanero once or twice, if that.

As for dictionaries, the one I like best is an enormous HarperCollins that a friendly employee at Borders recommended. I still remember her name is Esther because that dictionary has been such a big help over the years. Pocket dictionary it is not; you'd practically need a wheelbarrow to haul it around town with you. The thing I really like about it is that it has tons of entries, extensive explanations of each word, and country-coded vocabulary. So you can look up "guy" and know what word to use in Mexico and which words you should save for Spain and Argentina. It also has lots of modern words and technology terms that are hard to find in other dictionaries. You can get it from Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/...37259698&sr=11-1

In terms of online dictionaries, I've found the one at Granada University to be good and fairly reliable. Oddly enough, because it's a Spanish university, but the vocabulary is more Mexican than the stuff in the online translator dictionaries that pop up at the top of a Google search. WordReference.com has forums that can be useful when you have a question about a specific or hard-to-find word. You can access the Granada University dictionary here:

http://eubd1.ugr.es/

esperanza

Mar 17, 2009, 7:33 AM

Post #17 of 36 (11439 views)

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Re: [sergiogomez] Como se dice "plumber"?

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And 'plumbing'--as in what the fontanero does--is fontanería.

I almost exclusively use the Spanish-to-Spanish online dictionary Diccionario del español usual en México:

http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/...5028299979/index.htm

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

sergiogomez / Moderator

Mar 17, 2009, 10:19 AM

Post #18 of 36 (11426 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Como se dice "plumber"?

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In Reply To

And 'plumbing'--as in what the fontanero does--is fontanería.

Luego.

Does the Cervantes dictionary include a search function? I didn't see one. What I like about the Harper Collins is that all the grammar and extra information is in English, making it easier for beginners to use.

viktoremski

Mar 17, 2009, 4:19 PM

Post #19 of 36 (11396 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Como se dice "plumber"?

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In Tijuana it's always "plomero".

Hound Dog

Mar 18, 2009, 2:16 PM

Post #20 of 36 (11355 views)

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Re: [Carron] Como se dice "plumber"?

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plomero or fontanero. In Chiapas they use fontanero but say that we can say plomero if we like it is lo mismo according to the fontanero who is working at my house right now. I sounds like people in the north say plomero and in the south fontanero but either is understood.

Same thing with truck, I keep hearing trucka in the north but here they say camion .
I hear camion for bus in Ajijic but down in Chiapas it is autobus.

tashby

Mar 18, 2009, 3:20 PM

Post #21 of 36 (11349 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Yep. I asked my instructor in class today and he said either plomero or fontanero is fine in this neck of the woods. (Chapala/Guadalajara, etc.) I didn't ask about gasliter because I don't need to waste what little room is left in my brain memorizing a third way to say the same thing.....there's still way too much to try and shove in there. Lately, verbos irregulares en preterito.

Oy.

By the way, for anyone looking for an approach to Spanish that makes a lot more sense than some others (to me anyway), I highly recommend the Warren Hardy program.

sergiogomez / Moderator

Mar 18, 2009, 5:22 PM

Post #22 of 36 (11332 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Como se dice "plumber"?

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In Reply To

Same thing with truck, I keep hearing trucka in the north but here they say camion .
I hear camion for bus in Ajijic but down in Chiapas it is autobus.

Troca. It's the "in" word among Spanish speakers from just about any part of Mexico. Especially the ones who have been to the US or have relatives there. Diehard Mexican Mexicans tend to use the less-gringo words.

So camión might be a truck to a ranchero from Chiapas, but here it means an 18-wheel trailer, or any large vehicle like a dump truck that has more than four wheels. Camión and autobús are used interchangeably for the bus. Sometimes it's a matter of education as well. Autobús is definitely a higher-end word, while camión is what someone who only finished 6th grade would say.

I rented a Spanish-language movie from Redbox the other day and split my ribs laughing at how Puerto Ricans say guagua for "bus." Took me a while to figure out what they meant, and it sounds like a word you might expect to come out of a baby's mouth when they're just learning to talk.

sergiogomez / Moderator

Mar 18, 2009, 5:37 PM

Post #23 of 36 (11327 views)

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Re: [tashby] Como se dice "plumber"?

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In Reply To

.....there's still way too much to try and shove in there. Lately, verbos irregulares en preterito.

Oy.

Supo, cupo, quiso, tuvo, anduvo, estuvo, hubo, fue. There are about eight very commonly-used verbs that are irregular in the preterite. Saber, caber, querer, tener, haber, estar, ser, decir, traer, hacer, poder, poner, venir. Okay, so thirteen--a few more than eight, and all of them are gotta-have verbs (to be, to have, to want, to say).

Learning their irregular forms is like drilling multiplication tables. Painful, boring, no fun, but eventually it sticks. The good news is the list of weird past-tense verbs is short.

Tener. Tuve. Tuviste. Tuvo. . .Poder. Pude. Pudiste. Pudo. . .

Thirteen verbs, no more. Anything else the textbook throws at you is pretty superfluous.

tashby

Mar 19, 2009, 10:41 AM

Post #24 of 36 (11296 views)

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Re: [sergiogomez] Como se dice "plumber"?

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That is great to know. Thanks for the list of the "must-haves". That's one of the things I like most about the Warren Hardy approach. He starts out with what he thinks are the 100 most important verbs (he calls them "Power Verbs"). And then builds from there.

You don't waste time getting lost in the weeds, learning conjugations of verbs you may never need.

Then, after you get the foundation, with usage and grammar....you can actually speak a little bit successfully! So you're rewarded almost instantly.

Then you get to spend the rest of your life learning more/supplementing....

Ha!

jerezano

Mar 20, 2009, 8:03 PM

Post #25 of 36 (11265 views)

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Re: [tashby] Como se dice "plumber"?

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Hola,

In Nayarit almost everybody says fontanero. Came as quite a surprise to me as I had never heard it used in the Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Guanajuato, nor even in the Yucatán areas.

And gasliter--that seems to me to be a bit doubtful. I wouldn't use it. But then you will also find that many plumbers are electricians as well or that many electricians are plumbers as well. Seems that plumbing and electricity have a lot in common.

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