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sandykayak

Jul 28, 2003, 2:48 PM

Post #1 of 9 (7098 views)

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Mexican Idioms?

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I grew up speaking Venezuelan Spanish, have learned Cuban words in Miami, and now need to learn Mexican idioms/terminology.

It's like the US v. UK English: boot/trunk or bonnet/hood thing. Different countries use different words or expressions and what is OK in one Spanish-speaking country can sometimes be obscene or insulting in another.

For example "earrings"
Venezuela - zarcillos
Cuba - aretes
I think it's zarcillos in MX.

"twins" can be gemelos, morochos, imaguas - what's the MX word?

In ven. we say something is "picante" (spicy hot) but I believe in MX it's "picoso."

As a writer and thus a "words" person (fuggedabout numbers!!), I love lexicology. Can anyone recommend a book or dictionary so I can start learning the Mexican way of saying things?
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

esperanza

Jul 28, 2003, 6:59 PM

Post #2 of 9 (7038 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Mexican Idioms?

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Mexican usage (most of these are not idioms, just regional usage common to Mexico):

Earrings=aretes (This is also the word for the plant which, in English, is called fuschia)

Twins: gemelos (identical twins), cuates (fraternal)

Spicy: picante

There's a really interesting book called 'Colloquial Spanish'. You might hunt it up.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

(This post was edited by esperanza on Jul 28, 2003, 8:33 PM)

jsandrock

Jul 28, 2003, 8:27 PM

Post #3 of 9 (7032 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Mexican Idioms?

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Hi Sandy -- Here's one suggestion...check out the "Learning Spanish" forum here on Mexconnect. As you know I also am pretty fluent and thought I knew enough so that the Learning Spanish forum would be too basic for me (yeah, right!) but I've found that Sr. Quevedo, the moderator of the "Learning Spanish" forum is a great teacher and helps participants with idiomatic Mexican expressions, interpreting bits of overheard (and not understood) expressions, etc. etc. Plus you can write your post in Spanish which is great practice! I'd suggest posting your questions on that forum and I bet you'll get lots of good help! I've been too busy to post much but I enjoy reading it and have learned a lot from it.

Cheers, Jillian

pathall

Jul 29, 2003, 8:30 AM

Post #4 of 9 (7006 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Mexican Idioms?

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What about the wonderful word: mande? I believe that it's only used in Mexico.

sandykayak

Jul 29, 2003, 1:43 PM

Post #5 of 9 (6993 views)

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Re: [pathall] Mexican Idioms?

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my favorite mexican expression is "padre" as in:

Que padre!! (how great/awesome!!) or

Esta padrisimo! (that's aweseome)

The "mande" (and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong!) probably has subservient origins cos it means "tell me/order me/give orders, but with a question mark (mande?) it means "excuse me? what did you say?.
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

sandykayak

Aug 6, 2003, 1:05 PM

Post #6 of 9 (6963 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Mexican Idioms?

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haven't located Colloquial Spanish, esperanza, but I found some interesting ones at www4.bookstore.washington/edu/ they have oodles of MX books: here are my first choices

Mexican Slang 101 : Cabo Bobs Definitve
Cabo Bob / Linton H Robinson
ISBN: 9-93048-000-5
$ 5.00 New $ 5.00

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1 A Gringo Manual On How To Handle Mexicans
Gutierrez, Jose Angel / Arte Publico Press
ISBN: 1-55885-326-X
$ 12.95 New $ 12.95

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1 Lonely Planet Mexican Spanish Phrasebook
Lonely Planet / Lonely Planet Publications
ISBN: 1-74059-495-9
$ 7.99 New $ 7.99

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1 Mexican Spanish
Rough Guides / Rough Guides Limited
ISBN: 1-85828-609-3
$ 5.00 New $ 5.00

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1 There's A Word For It In Mexico: The Complete Guid
Demente, Boye Lafayette / Mcgraw-hill/contemporary
ISBN: 0-8442-7251-5
$ 17.95 New $ 17.95

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1 When In Mexico, Do As The Mexicans Do
Kernecker, Herb / Ntc/contemporary Publishing Company
ISBN: 0-8442-2783-8
$ 10.95 New $ 10.95
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

esperanza

Aug 6, 2003, 3:56 PM

Post #7 of 9 (6957 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Mexican Idioms?

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http://www.amazon.com/...v=glance&s=books

This is my personal favorite; I notice that it is out of stock at Amazon. Look for it; it's written with a terrific sense of humor and covers so much more than Mexican idioms and slang.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

sandykayak

Aug 7, 2003, 4:53 AM

Post #8 of 9 (6948 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Mexican Idioms?

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thanks, esperanza, the three reviewers rate it very highly. however, since it's not available and the latest edition is 1981 perhaps they're preparing an update.
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

esperanza

Aug 7, 2003, 5:11 AM

Post #9 of 9 (6980 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Mexican Idioms?

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Búscalo en librerías de segunda...vale la pena.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com