spanish word of the day: cojones
The things you learn on roadtrips. On a recent one with some Spanish friends, I learned just how important cojones are to Spanish people.
It happened just after we passed Toledo heading southbound. Tio Pepe blurted out from the back seat, "Tocame los cojones! Que me voy a Bargas! Y si no me los toca... a Menasalbas!"
Hwhhaaaaat?
While my three Spanish compadres were laughing among themselves, I was once again left scratching my head at some vulgar Spanish expression whose meaning completely escaped me.From what I could gather from Pepe's explanation, the expression had something to do with two towns we'd passed - Bargas and Menasalbas - south of Toledo. I'd never heard of those towns before, but I'd heard plenty of expressions using that oh-so-familiar Spanish word for testicles.
"Spanish people talk about cojones a lot," I intimated to my friends.
They all agreed. Eager to impress upon me just how essential cojones are to Castellano, my travel companions took the opportunity to school me on several uses and variants of the word. And I took notes. Here are some of my favorites:
que cojones...? - used as part of a rhetorical question, as in, 'que cojones es esto (what the hell is this)?
pero-que-cojones
hasta los cojones - (to have had it) up to here; to be fed up. Literal translation: up to the balls.
acojonante - fabulous, amazing.
vas como los cojones de los galgos - used when someone lags behind. A galgo is a Spanish greyound. Approximate translation: you're moving like greyhounds' balls.
Galgo_Español_en_la_arena
par de cojones - when someone is brave or fearless they are said to have a par de cojones or to have done something con dos cojones. Literal translation: a pair of balls.
con-dos-cojones
cojonudo - awesome, amazing, great
cojonazos (aka, huevasos) - guy who is henpecked, or a guy who sits around 'tocando sus cojones' (touching his balls / doing nothing) all day.
un cojon - a whole lot. (e.g., 'te quiero un cojon')
mil pares de cojones - with a lot of force, effort, or difficult. Literal translation: A thousand pairs of balls.
And that's just a short list. Turns out there are dozens more uses for the word cojones in Spain. Which means that cojones could quite possibly be the most versatile word ever.
spanish word of the day: rematar
Rematar. (verb) - To close out, to wrap up, to finish off.
Popped in to my favorite tapas bar to grab a quick snack before heading to the library. Greeted the bartender with an, "Hola, Que tal?"
He replied, "Rematando la manana."
"Ohhh...siii," I responded. Then thought to myself, confusedly, 'But. But. It's 3:30 pm!"
spanish word of the day: rastas
Rastas. (noun) dreadlocks.
spanish word of the day: abrigar
Abrigar. (verb) To bundle up. To protect oneself from the cold.
As I was leaving the apartment with my bike, I ran into my elderly neighbor, Sr. Braulio.
"Vas en bici?" He asked, looking a little dubious. (Are you going by bike?)
"Siiii," I replied. Then followed with, "Tengo mis guantes, mi bufonda..." (I got my gloves, my scarf...)
"Ahh..." He responded. "Hay que abrigar!"(Ya gotta bundle up!)
spanish word of the day: caber
Caber (verb) - to fit, to have room for.
As is my usual habit on Thursdays, I go have a coffee and a churrito in the cafeteria at school after my first and only class of the day. Today, the churritos weren't yet ready when I arrived and ordered my coffee. The guy who runs the cafeteria set out a mini muffin for me to eat while the churritos finished cooking.
"Oh, no..." I protested, "Yo puedo esperar por el churrito." (I can wait for the churrito.)
"Tu eres grande," he replied. "Te cabe!" (You're big. You have room for it!)
Sir!!