2001_ATA Annual Conf Proceedings_Folks (People Related Terminology)_Moskowitz

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(From “Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: folks.” Proceedings of the 42nd Annual

Conference of the American Translators Association, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., October

31-November 3, 2001. Thomas L. West III, comp. American Translators Association, 2001. 268-

301.)

TOPICS IN SPANISH LEXICAL DIALECTOLOGY: FOLKS

Andre Moskowitz

Keywords: Spanish, Regionalisms, Terminology, Dialectology, Lexicography, Sociolinguistics,

People, Occupations, Anatomy.

Abstract: This paper presents information on the regional Spanish-language names of

occupations, anatomy and other people-related phenomena.

0 INTRODUCTION

People who shine other people’s shoes for money are called either limpiabotas, lustrabotas or

lustradores in most Spanish-speaking countries, but they are often called boleros in Mexico and

emboladores in Colombia. This study seeks to determine, in each Spanish-speaking region,which terms are commonly used for ‘shoe shine boys’ and certain other people-related

phenomena that have different names in different regions of the Spanish-speaking world.

The material in this article is catalogued under three general headings (“Occupations,”“Anatomy” and “Miscellaneous”), and the title of each section is the item’s common equivalentin United States English, or a description of the item.

A) Occupations: 1) waiter / waitress / server, 2) shoe shine boy, 3) plumber.B) Anatomy: 1) bump on one’s head, 2) bangs, 3) sleep in your eye (rheum), 4) Adam’s apple.

C) Miscellaneous: 1) blond or fair-skinned, 2) to crack one’s knuckles, 3) dental filling, 4) signor hand signal used to indicate person’s height.



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Illustrations1 of some of the items are provided, and each section is divided into four subsections:

1) Summary

2) Terms by Country3) Details

4) Real Academia Regional Review

0.1 Summary

These subsections present a synopsis of the regional variation of each item and highlight thelexical landscape’s salient points. Sometimes one or two terms loom large on the international

horizon, that is, they are used in many more countries than any of the other terms. When this

occurs, these “dominant terms” are identified.

0.2 Terms by Country

These subsections consist of lexico-geographic tables in which the terms used in the Spanish-

speaking regions of peninsular Spain and the nineteen Spanish-speaking countries of the WesternHemisphere are presented. Since the countries are arranged in a geographical order, they often

highlight ‘lexico-geographic blocs,’ or groups of countries that are in geographic proximity and

also share the same lexical usage for a given item.

Information on most items was collected from between ten and twenty native speakers of

Spanish from each country, by one or several of the following methods:

1) through observation in the countries themselves;

2) by showing informants the item, or a picture of the item, or by giving them a

description of the item (sometimes using pantomime) and asking them to give the term or

phrase most commonly used in their region for it; and,3) by asking informants who are highly proficient in English to give the equivalents of

English-language terms and phrases that are used in their native regions.

Following each Spanish-language term, a numerical proportion is given indicating the number of

informants out of the total who used a particular term or gave it as their response to a question.

Thus, in the first table, WAITER / WAITRESS / SERVER ,

CHILE garzón (12/20), mozo (12/20), mesero (6/20)

is to be interpreted as, “Of the twenty Chileans who were observed referring to a ‘waiter’ or were

asked to give the term they used for this item, twelve gave or used the term garzón, twelve gaveor used the term mozo, and six the term mesero.” In many cases, the people interviewed

indicated that more than one term was commonly used in their homeland and, therefore, the sumof the ratios frequently total more than one.

In some cases, shibboleths, or distinguishing traits, are pinpointed. For example, if a Spanish-speaker uses the word bolero in the sense of ‘shoe shine boy,’ then that person is in all likelihood



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Mexican, or is someone who, for whatever reason, has decided to adopt this aspect of Mexican

usage. Often the shibboleth does not uniquely determine the person’s nationality but suggests a

group of countries. For instance, if a Spanish speaker uses pollina in the sense of ‘bangs,’ then heor she probably comes from one of three countries: the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico orVenezuela.

0.3 Details

In these subsections more detailed information is provided on usage in particular regions or

socioeconomic groups.

0.4 Real Academia Regional Review

These subsections present an evaluation of the 1992 edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua Española (the Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy), henceforth referred to as the

“Dictionary”. Its coverage of the regional usages described in this article is evaluated using thefollowing grading scale:

A Corresponding definition, correct regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary

defines the term as used in a particular section of this article and correctly indicates the

countries and/or regions in which the term is used in this sense.B Corresponding definition, incorrect regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary

defines the term as used in the section and specifies a region or regions but does not

specify them correctly. Its definition either fails to include regions in which the usage

occurs or includes regions where the usage does not occur. However, the grade of B israised to an A if the Dictionary’s definition is appropriate, “ Amér.” ( América, that is,

Spanish-speaking Latin America) is specified in the definition, and the term is used in ten

or more (over 50%) of the nineteen Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.

C Corresponding definition, no regions specified . This grade is given when the Dictionarydefines the term as used in the section but does not specify any countries or regions in

which the term is used in this sense. In essence, it fails to identify the usage as regional.However, the grade of C is raised to an A if the term is used in at least ten of the twenty

Spanish-speaking countries (at least 50% of them).

D No corresponding definition. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not include in

its definition of the term a sense that corresponds to the section.F Term not in dictionary. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not list the term at

all.

The purpose of this evaluation is to expose gaps and inconsistencies in specific definitions in the

hope that they will be modified in future editions of the Dictionary so that they accuratelydescribe usage in the Spanish-speaking world from an international perspective. At the very

least, the issues raised should be investigated by the Dictionary’s researchers. The same type oftest could be applied to other monolingual, Spanish-language dictionaries.

** *



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One may ask why the study of Spanish regionalisms is important. In fact, Spanish is a

remarkably unified language. The syntactic and phonetic differences between its spoken varieties

are not great enough to cause an immediate breakdown in communication between educatedspeakers from different countries, but because of this, lexical differences often present subtler

barriers to communication. Although cases of regional variation such as

cerquillo/chasquilla/flequillo/pollina (‘bangs’) constitute only a tiny minority within the Spanishlexicon taken as a whole (the vast majority of which shows no regional differentiation), if one’scommunication with someone who speaks a different national dialect happens to involve one of

these lexical items, communication may very well be inhibited. Having an international perspective on the language and being aware of regional differences in vocabulary not only helps

people avoid misunderstandings when communicating with a person from a different country or

region, but also helps prevent one from judging another’s use of language based on one’s ownlocal (national) standard.

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One may also ask how lexical variation is best studied and analyzed. In this article, language

differences are plotted primarily as a function of geography __

rather than of socioeconomic class,

age, gender or ethnicity. Although this approach was once quite popular, it fell out of favor inacademic linguistic circles after about 1950. The following remark by Professor Yakov Malkiel,

made in the early 1980s, is indicative of how dialect geography came to be considered less

important than sociolinguistics and urban dialectology:

Traditionally, among laymen and specialists alike, « dialect » has referred to some

regional (« provincial ») parlance, with the connotations of humility, uncouthness,

and lack of sophistication almost inescapably attaching to it: hence theconcentration of early investigators

__ in the company of folklorists

__ on rural

varieties. With the advent to influence of urban anthropology and sociolinguistics,

it has become fashionable to speak of inner-city and suburban dialects more and

more frequently. In a concurrent development, along a related axis, « dialect » nolonger immediately evokes the geographic map, as used to be the case at the

height of the fad of linguistic atlases, which owed so much to the technique ofcartographic projection based on interviews. At present one speaks just as readily

of social dialects __

to contrast the preferences of the educated and the uneducated,

or the economically privileged and the impecunious, etc. (Malkiel 53).

This study has some things in common with earlier linguistic atlas projects carried out in the first

half of the twentieth century. For example, its informants are not a cross-section of the

community but just individuals the author had access to. In those earlier studies, however, thesubjects were generally older, uneducated, rural men as the following remark made by Professors

Jack Chambers and Peter Trudgill in their important book Dialectology indicates:

Perhaps the most typical feature shared by all of the major projects in dialectgeography is the type of informant selected. No matter how diverse the culture,

how discrepant the socioeconomic climate, and how varied the topography, the

majority of informants has in all cases consisted of nonmobile, older , rural males.For want of an established term to characterise this population, here and



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elsewhere throughout this book we will refer to them as the NORMs, an acronym

based on the description given in the preceding sentence. (Chambers and Trudgill

29).

In contrast to the “NORMs” described by Chambers and Trudgill, most of the people

interviewed for this study were under the age of fifty. They were also generally from cities __

not

rural areas __ and for the most part were highly educated and cosmopolitan. At the other end of thespectrum, there were also some who were campesinos. Another important difference is the

speech that one is attempting to describe. The goal here is not to determine the unique linguistic

features that distinguish the speech of, say, elderly, uneducated men from the rural community ofJaripeo, Guanajuato, Mexico, but rather those that unite, for example, a majority of Mexicans

from all regions of the country, whether rural or urban, rich or poor, and which may distinguish

them from a broad range of speakers from the other nineteen Spanish-speaking countries.

In the last chapter of Dialectology, Professors Chambers and Trudgill claim that serious studies

on this subject must address “urban research” and “variation theory”:

Dialectology without sociolinguistics at its core is a relic. No serious perspectiveon dialectology can grant urban research and variation theory less than a central

role. (Chambers and Trudgill 188).

Are the claims of these distinguished dialectolgists valid? Let us suppose they are and test them

by seeing if the present study is a counter-example: since urban research and variation theory

(however these are defined) are not central components of this study, then, according to

Chambers and Trudgill, it cannot be serious. And since sociolinguistics is not its primary focus,it is therefore a relic. While urban research and variation theory are undoubtedly important tools

in many dialectology research projects, the author of this article would dispute any claim that

these or any other technique or framework must be applied in order for a study to be considered

valid, important or interesting. He believes, on the contrary, that valuable research on dialectscomes in a wide range of shapes and sizes and hopes that further studies will broaden rather than

narrow our perspectives and approaches. The reader will judge whether this study is serious andthe extent to which its topics are of current interest and usefulness.

A OCCUPATIONS

A1 WAITER / WAITRESS / SERVER

A1.1 Summary

Mesero and mozo are somewhat dominant: mesero is the most commonly used term in at least

ten Spanish American countries, all north of Peru, mozo in at least eight countries (six of whichare south of Ecuador), and camarero in two or three countries. Other terms are commonly used

in Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela and, possibly, Bolivia.



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A1.2 Terms by Country (7 terms)

SPAIN camarero (15/15).MEXICO mesero (15/15).GUATEMALA mesero (13/13).

EL SALVADOR mesero (10/10).

HONDURAS mesero (11/11). NICARAGUA mesero (12/12).

COSTA RICA mesero (10/14), salonero (9/14).

PANAMA mesero (8/14), wéiter (7/14), salonero (4/14).CUBA camarero (15/15).

DOMIN. REP. camarero (11/15), mozo (9/15), mesero (7/15).

PUERTO RICO mesero (16/20), mozo (10/20), camarero (5/20).

VENEZUELA mesonero (13/13).COLOMBIA mesero (15/15).

ECUADOR mesero (15/15), salonero (7/15), mozo (4/15).

PERU mozo (17/20), mesero (7/20).BOLIVIA mozo (14/15), garzón (6/15), mesero (6/15).PARAGUAY mozo (13/13).

URUGUAY mozo (11/11).ARGENTINA mozo (15/15).CHILE garzón (12/20), mozo (12/20), mesero (6/20).

A1.3 Details

General: The above terms are used to refer to waiters in indirect address, for example, when

referring to their occupation. Some of the above terms are also used in direct addresswhen trying to get a waiter’s attention, although señor is always more polite. In some

Spanish-speaking countries waitresses are not very common and, therefore, words forfemale servers are seldom heard, but which of the above terms can take the feminine

form? Camarera, mesera, mesonera and salonera seem to work fine, but what about lamoza, la garzona or la wéiter ? Spanish speakers who know French and English may

object to the last two terms, but are they ever used? Where mozo is used, there is some

evidence to suggest that for female servers, mesera is more common than moza.

Panama: If the anglicism waiter , pronounced as if written wéiter , is ever accepted as a legitimateword in Panamanian Spanish, which spelling will be preferred?

Ecuador: Salonero tends to refer to servers in modest eating establishments (often called

salones).Bolivia & Chile: What are people’s attitudes toward the term garzón (which derives from French

garçon)? Some said they felt garzón was a more refined term than mozo or mesero (termswhich they considered pejorative), whereas others stated that garzón is used only in

mocking or affected speech.



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A1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Camarero (C), garzón (D), mesero (B), mesonero (D), mozo (D), salonero (F), waiter

(F), wéiter (F).This is how the Dictionary defines the following terms: mozo, “4. m. Hombre que sirve

en las casas o al público en oficios humildes. Denótase el lugar y el trabajo en que se ocupa por

medio de un sustantivo regido por la preposición de. MOZO DE café, DE comedor , DE cocina”;camarero, “6. Mozo de café, bar u otro establecimiento semejante”; mesero, “m. y f. Col ., Chile,

Ecuad ., Guat . y Méj. Camarero o camarera de café o restaurante.”

Sense 4 of mozo is both too general and too restrictive to capture the essence of ‘waiter’:it includes kitchen workers and other types of food-service employees who are not waiters, and it

describes the job as humilde. (Those who wait tables in four-star restaurants do not have a low-

status occupation and they tend to be anything but humble.) Therefore, an additional sense needs

to be added to the Dictionary’s definition of mozo. Since the concept of mesero/mozo/camarero is fundamentally linked to that of restaurante (or restauran(t)/restorán as many Spanish speakers

pronounce and write it), any definition of the former should include the latter. However, given

the fact that mesero is the most widely used term internationally, it should be defined as “persona

que sirve comidas y bebidas en un restaurante, café u otro establecimiento semejante” and theremaining terms (mozo, camarero, garzón, etc.) should be cross-referenced to mesero with the

appropriate regional labels.

A2 SHOE SHINE BOY

A2.1 Summary

Limpiabotas and lustrabotas are the dominant terms: one or the other is commonly used in

fifteen countries. Other terms are common in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and

Colombia.

A2.2 Terms by Country (6 terms plus variants)

SPAIN limpiabotas (15/15).

MEXICO bolero (15/15).

GUATEMALA lustrador (12/12).EL SALVADOR lustrador (10/10).

HONDURAS lustrabotas (13/15), chaine (5/15), lustrador (5/15).

NICARAGUA lustrador (12/12).COSTA RICA limpiabotas (12/12).

PANAMA limpiabotas (13/13).CUBA limpiabotas (12/12).DOMIN. REP. limpiabotas (12/12).PUERTO RICO limpiabotas (15/15).

VENEZUELA limpiabotas (14/14).

COLOMBIA embolador (16/20), lustrabotas (6/20), lustrador (3/20).ECUADOR betunero (6/11), lustrabotas (6/11).



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PERU lustrabotas (7/12), lustrador (5/12).

BOLIVIA lustrabotas (12/12).

PARAGUAY lustrabotas (13/13).URUGUAY lustrabotas (9/11), lustrador (4/11), lustrazapatos (1/11).ARGENTINA lustrabotas (18/20), lustrador (2/20), lustrín (1/20).

CHILE lustrabotas (13/13), lustrador (2/13).

A2.3 Details

General: Limpiabotas and lustrabotas are sometimes pronounced (and written) limpiabota andlustrabota, respectively, especially in regions where s’s in word-final position tend to be

aspirated or deleted such as southern Spain, the Caribbean basin and the River Plate

region. Where lustrador is used, the qualifiers de botas or de zapatos are sometimes

added for clarification.Honduras: Chaine derives from English “shine” and also means a ‘shine’ as in que me dé un

chaine; the verb chainear means ‘to shine (shoes)’. Colombia: Some claim embolador is the everyday term but that lustrabotas is used when people

want to talk fino (fancy). What are Colombians’ attitudes regarding embolador vs.lustrabotas?

Ecuador: Is betunero used more in the Costa (coastal region) and lustrabotas more in the Sierra

(highland region)? There is some evidence to suggest this is the case.Argentina & Chile: The one person who gave lustrín as an equivalent of ‘shoe shine boy’ was an

elderly man from San Juan, Argentina. Is this term commonly used in Chile, in some

regions of Argentina, or elsewhere? (See paragraph 3 of section A2.4 below.)


Betunero (C), bolero (A), chaine (F), embolador (A), limpiabotas (A), lustrabotas (B),

lustrador (B), lustrín (B?). Betunero is defined as “2. limpiabotas” (with no regional specification). Is this term

commonly used in Spain or in any Spanish American countries other than Ecuador? Lustrín is defined as “Chile. Lustrabotas, limpiabotas.” Is this term commonly used in

Chile in this sense? The Chileans this author interviewed indicated that a lustrín is the box

containing the polish, brushes and other utensils used to shine shoes.

A3 PLUMBER

A3.1 Summary

Plomero is the dominant term: it is the most commonly used term in twelve Spanish American

countries and competes with another term in at least five more. Fontanero is the preferred termin most if not all of Spain (Andalucía is a possible exception). In much of Hispanic Central

America, fontanero and plomero go toe to toe, and Ecuador, Peru and Chile have terms which

derive from English “gas fitter”.



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A3.2 Terms by Country (4 terms plus variants)

SPAIN fontanero (19/20), plomero (2/20).MEXICO plomero (20/20), fontanero (4/20).GUATEMALA plomero (12/12).

EL SALVADOR fontanero (12/15), plomero (10/15).

HONDURAS fontanero (12/15), plomero (9/15). NICARAGUA fontanero (8/12), plomero (7/12).

COSTA RICA fontanero (10/12), plomero (8/12).

PANAMA plomero (12/12).CUBA plomero (15/15).

DOMIN. REP. plomero (11/11).

PUERTO RICO plomero (15/15).

VENEZUELA plomero (15/15).COLOMBIA plomero (15/15).

ECUADOR gasfitero (9/12), plomero (8/12).

PERU gasfitero (12/12).BOLIVIA plomero (12/12).PARAGUAY plomero (13/13).

URUGUAY plomero (10/10).ARGENTINA plomero (13/13).CHILE gásfiter (13/13).

A3.3 Details

Spain: Is plomero commonly used in Andalucía? The Dictionary implies that it is (see section

A3.4 below), yet in this study six of the eight respondents from Andalucía indicated that

fontanero is the only term they use (one said he used plomero and one said he used both

terms). However, all Andalusians queried were educated, urban persons under the age offifty. What do elderly, rural and working-class Andalusians say? Given that fontanero is

the predominant term in most of Spain, is plomero losing ground to fontanero in southernSpain or is it standing firm or perhaps gaining ground? In Andalucía, is plomero used

more by older, rural, and working-class populations, and is fontanero used more by the

younger generations and the middle and upper classes? Is the use of plomero considered

by some Andalusians to be a shibboleth, a term that shows one is a true Andalusian, an“andaluz de pura cepa”? In general, what are Andalusians’ attitudes toward the use of plomero vs. fontanero? If the use of plomero is beginning to die out in southern Spain,

when did this process start, and why? If plomero is alive and well in southern Spain, does“covert prestige” play any role in its survival?

Ecuador: Gasfitero is used more in the Costa and the southern highlands (e.g. Cuenca, Loja); plomero more in the rest of the Sierra (Riobamba, Ambato, Quito, Ibarra, etc).

Ecuador, Peru & Chile: Gasfitero and gásfíter , which are often pronounced as if written gafitero and gáfiter , respectively, derive from English “gas fitter” (defined in the AmericanHeritage Dictionary as “one who installs or repairs gas pipes, fixtures, or appliances”).Why did gasfitero or gásfíter take root in these three countries and not in other Spanish-speaking countries that had comparable British or American influence? Why was the



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direct loan-word gásfiter incorporated into Chilean Spanish whereas in Peru and coastal

Ecuador the English term was castillianized and became gasfitero? Why did gasfitero

take root in Guayaquil and coastal Ecuador but not in Quito and most of the Ecuadoran

Highlands?


Fontanero (C), gásfiter (F), gasfitero (F), plomero (A).

Plomero is defined as “2. En Andalucía y diversos países de América, fontanero.” Since

plomero is by far the most widely used term internationally, one can argue that the Dictionaryshould give it a full definition and define fontanero as “En España y diversos países de AméricaCentral, plomero” or “ Esp. y Amér. Central . Plomero.”

This leads us to the following question: to what extent does the Spanish Royal Academy

seek to produce a dictionary that is international in character and outlook? The fact that theDictionary defines many terms not used in Spain shows that the Academy does indeed want its

dictionary to record word usage throughout the Spanish-speaking world. However, its

unwillingness to identify usages found only or primarily in Spain as españolismos, suggests it

still views the Spanish language from a perspective that is Peninsular and Eurocentric, ratherthan international, and perhaps it always will. To what extent do other monolingual, Spanish-

language dictionaries view the language from an international perspective?

B ANATOMY

B1 BUMP ON ONE’S HEAD

[Illustration in original publication not included]

B1.1 Summary

Chichón is the international standard term and chichón and/or chinchón are the most frequentlyused terms in over half of the Spanish-speaking countries. However, other terms are common in

Mexico, most of Hispanic Central America, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and

Chile.

B1.2 Terms by Country (about 15 terms plus variants)

SPAIN chichón (16/20), huevo (5/20), chinchón (3/20), turulo (1/20).MEXICO chipote (16/20), chichón (12/20).

GUATEMALA chinchón (10/15), chichón (6/15).EL SALVADOR chindondo (11/16), chichote (8/16), chichón (5/16).HONDURAS chichote (13/13), chichón (6/13), chinchón (1/13).

NICARAGUA chichote (13/13), chichón (7/13).

COSTA RICA chichota (14/14), chichón (4/14), chibola (2/14).

PANAMA chichón (12/13), huevo (4/13).CUBA chichón (15/15).



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DOMIN. REP. chichón (12/14), chinchón (3/14).

PUERTO RICO chichón (20/20), guabucho (10/20), huevucho/güevucho (6/20).

VENEZUELA chichón (15/15), tuyuyo (9/15).COLOMBIA chichón (20/20), turupe (9/20), huevo (6/20), chibolo (2/20), chicho

(1/20), pelota (1/20), torupe (1/20), turupo (1/20).

ECUADOR chibolo (16/20), chichón (13/20), chinchón (2/20), huevo (1/20).

PERU chichón (12/20), chinchón (12/20), cototo (1/20).BOLIVIA chinchón (11/15), chichón (7/15).

PARAGUAY chichón (11/16), bitoque (6/16), acãndú (4/16), chinchón (3/16).

URUGUAY chichón (10/11), chinchón (1/11), huevo (1/11).ARGENTINA chichón (16/16), huevo (2/16).

CHILE cototo (12/16), chichón (5/16), huevo (4/16), tococo (3/16).

B1.3 Details

Spain: The person who offered turulo was from Galicia.

Honduras & Nicaragua: Several people indicated that chichote is an ordinary-sized bump on the

head whereas a chichón is a large one.Puerto Rico: Some claim a guabucho, or its variant huevucho/güevucho, is a larger, more

impressive bump than a chichón. Others say a guabucho or its variant refers to bumps on

other parts of the body (or elsewhere such as on a tire or inner tube), whereas chichón isspecifically a bump on the head. Still others say that a guabucho is any bump, bruise or

welt. In light of the fact that guabucho is derived from huevucho, which in turn is derived

from huevo, how should guabucho be spelled, guabucho or huavucho? The intermediate

spellings guavucho and huabucho were also offered.Colombia: Some Colombians say turupe is a lump or bump anywhere on the body whereas a

chichón is specifically one on the head; others say chichón and turupe are synonyms but

turupe pertains to a lower speech register. The use of turupe seems to be more common

in the interior of the country than in the Costa (Atlantic Coast region) or the Llanos(eastern plains draining to the Orinoco).

Ecuador: Chibolo seems to be used more in the Costa and chichón more in the Sierra.Peru: The Peruvian who gave cototo was from Tacna (extreme southern Peru).

Paraguay: Acãndú is the Guaraní term.

Chile: All three respondents who gave tococo were from Antofagasta. Does tococo derive from

cototo (by metathesis) or vice-versa, and is tococo used in other (northern) regions ofChile? What is the origin of cototo/tococo?

B1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Acandú/acãndú (F), bitoque (D), cototo (F), chibola (A or B?), chibolo (A or B?),chichón (A), chichota (D), chichote (F), chinchón (A), chindondo (F), chipote (D), guabucho (F),

huevo (D), huevucho (F), tococo (F), torupe (F), turupe (F), turupo (F), tuyuyo (F).This is how the Dictionary defines the following terms: bodoque, “8. fig. Guat . y Méj.

Chichón, bollo, y en general hinchazón de forma redonda en cualquier parte del cuerpo”;brocino, “m. porcino, chichón”; chibolo and chibola, “2. Amér. Central , Col., Ecuad. y Perú.Chichón”; porcel , “m. Murc. Chichón, porcino”; porcino, “4. Chichón, porcel”; tolo, “m. Ast. y



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León. tolondro, chichón”; tolondro, “2. m. Bulto o chichón que se levanta en alguna parte del

cuerpo, especialmente en la cabeza, de resultas de un golpe”; tolondrón, “2. m. Bulto producido

en la cabeza por un golpe, chichón, tolo”; torondo, “m. ant. chichón”; torondón, “m. ant.Chichón, tolondro”; turumbón, “m. tolondrón, bulto o chichón.”

Is bodoque commonly used in this sense in Guatemala and Mexico, or in certain regions

of these countries? If so, in which regions? Is porcel used in Murcia? Is tolo used in Asturias and

León? Brocino, porcino, tolondro and turumbón are listed with no regional specification, butclearly they are not common throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Where in Spain (and

elsewhere) are these terms frequently used? Where and when were torondo and torondón used in

this sense?

B2 BANGS


B2.1 Summary

There is no dominant term. Flequillo, the international standard term, is understood by hair

dressers and educated speakers everywhere, yet it is the most commonly used term in only four

countries: Spain, Honduras, Paraguay and Argentina. Cerquillo is the most frequently used termin five countries (four of which are in South America), pollina in three countries (all in the

Caribbean basin), and fleco and pava in two countries each. El Salvador, Panama, Colombia and

Chile have unique usages that are not common in any other country.


SPAIN flequillo (15/15).MEXICO fleco (14/20), tupé (7/20), flequillo (3/20).GUATEMALA fleco (12/15), flequillo (5/15).

EL SALVADOR cepill(it)o (13/13), fleco (3/13), pavita (1/13), cerquillo (1/13).HONDURAS flequillo (10/16), cepillo (5/16), cerquillo (5/16), fleco (4/16), pavita

(1/16), burrita (1/16).

NICARAGUA pava (13/13), fleco (2/13).

COSTA RICA pava (15/15), fleco (6/15), flequillo (5/15).PANAMA gallusa (12/12).

CUBA cerquillo (15/15).

DOMIN. REP. pollina (13/13).PUERTO RICO pollina (20/20), flequillo (3/20).

VENEZUELA pollina (15/15), flequillo (5/15), fleco (1/15).COLOMBIA capul (15/20), flequillo (7/20), china (6/20), fleco (2/20).ECUADOR cerquillo (15/15).PERU cerquillo (15/15).

BOLIVIA cerquillo (15/15), flequillo (2/15), jopo (2/15).

PARAGUAY flequillo (13/13), jopo (4/13).



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URUGUAY cerquillo (13/14), flequillo (5/14).

ARGENTINA flequillo (15/15).

CHILE chasquilla (15/15).

B2.3 Details

Mexico: Is tupé in this sense used more in northern Mexico? There is some evidence to suggestthis is the case.

Panama: The Panamanian term probably derives from gallo and therefore one can argue that it

should be spelled gallusa, but Panamanians also offered the other three possiblespellings: galluza, gayusa and gayuza; it seems many educated people are unsure.

Colombia: Capul is the predominant term in the interior; china in the Costa (Atlantic Coast)

region. What terms are used in the Pacific Coast region and in the Llanos? In the regions

where capul is common, who says el capul and who says la capul ? Most people queriedindicated capul is feminine, but most of them were from Bogotá and several from other

regions of the interior insisted that the term is masculine. Others believe the difference is

generational with la capul being the more traditional, older usage and el capul being used

by younger folks.Paraguay: Several Paraguayans indicated that jopo means ‘bangs’ but one claimed it refers to the

hair on the foreheads of horses and mules. How is jopo used in Paraguayan Spanish? (In

a related area, several Argentines indicated that a jopo is what other Spanish speakerswould call a copete, that is, ‘hair combed up and back over the forehead’.)

Uruguay: A number of people indicated that cerquillo and flequillo are synonyms. Several

Uruguayans, however, made comments to the effect that flequillo is the Argentine termand that “real Uruguayans” say cerquillo. What are Uruguayans’ attitudes toward the useof flequillo vs. cerquillo?


Capul (F), cepillo (D), cerquillo (D), chasquilla (A), china (D), fleco (A or C?), flequillo

(A), gallusa (F), jopo (D), pava (D), pollina (B), tupé (D).

B3 SLEEP IN YOUR EYE (RHEUM)

B3.1 Summary

Lagaña is the dominant term: it is the most frequently used term in fourteen countries, all inSpanish America. However, legaña holds sway in Spain and, possibly, Peru. Other terms are

common in Colombia and much of Hispanic Central America; in the latter region many peopleare unfamiliar with either lagaña or legaña.


SPAIN legaña (17/20), lagaña (4/20).MEXICO lagaña (19/20), chinilla (1/20).



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GUATEMALA chele (11/11).

EL SALVADOR chele (10/10).

HONDURAS caca/caquita (7/14), sucio/suciedad (6/14), chele (3/14), cagada (2/14),

chelo (2/14), lagaña (2/14), chareca (1/14). NICARAGUA chele (4/10), chilicoso (4/10), sucio/suciedad (3/10), lagaña (3/10).

COSTA RICA lagaña (11/11).

PANAMA lagaña (12/12).CUBA lagaña (10/14), legaña (4/14).

DOMIN. REP. lagaña (12/12).

PUERTO RICO lagaña (15/15).VENEZUELA lagaña (12/12).

COLOMBIA lagaña (16/18), piche (8/18), picha (1/18).

ECUADOR lagaña (9/10), chuncho (1/10).

PERU legaña (10/12), lagaña (4/12).BOLIVIA lagaña (12/12).

PARAGUAY lagaña (11/12), resapeú (6/12).

URUGUAY lagaña (11/11).ARGENTINA lagaña (10/10).CHILE lagaña (12/13), legaña (3/13).

B3.3 Details

General: The item in question is the substance that, when you wake up sometimes, you find has

formed in the corner of your eye (hardened rheum).

Spain: In what regions, if any, is lagaña more common than legaña? Or is the legaña/lagaña issue a matter of social dialect? If so, is legaña considered more prestigious than lagaña?

Some Spaniards indicated that, to their ear, lagaña has a rural ring to it.

Honduras: Variants of caca/caquita such as caca de ratón and caquita de ojo were offered which

Hondurans stated were vulgar or at best unrefined usages. Many Hondurans, however,were hard- pressed to come up with a more “dignified,” “proper” or “precise” term forthis item.

Colombia: Piche appears to be used more in the interior and less in the Costa region. Most

people who offered the term indicated it is a vulgar equivalent of lagaña, but others

stated that piche is a greenish, watery type of lagaña.

Peru: Several Peruvians indicated that legaña is the educated form and lagaña the uneducatedform. Is this true?

Paraguay: Resapeú is the Guaraní term.

Chel , chele or chelo: Are all three forms used in parts of Central America? Is the singular formof cheles, chel or chele? Many Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans

indicated that they only use the plural form cheles and do not use a singular form. Ofthose who gave a singular form, most said chele, but a few said chel . To complicate

matters further, two Hondurans gave chelos and did not say what the singular form was.In Spanish, could a word chel have a plural form chelos, or would it have to be cheles?



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Caca (de ratón) (D), chel (F), chele (B), chilicoso (F), lagaña (A), legaña (C), piche (D),

resapeú (F).

B4 ADAM’S APPLE


B4.1 Summary

Manzana and/or manzana de Adán are the dominant terms: they are the most commonly used

terms in at least fourteen countries. In Spain, Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina, nuez and/or nuez de Adán are more common, and in Bolivia, pera competes with manzana (de Adán). In the

Dominican Republic and/or Chile, manzana (de Adán) and nuez (de Adán) may be competitors.


SPAIN nuez (de Adán) (15/17), manzana (de Adán) (3/17), bocado de Adán

(1/17).MEXICO manzana (de Adán) (17/20), nuez (de Adán) (4/20).

GUATEMALA manzana (de Adán) (7/10), manzanita (2/10), nuez (de Adán) (2/10),

bocado de Adán (1/10), manzanilla (1/10), pera (1/10).EL SALVADOR manzana (de Adán) (10/13), manzanilla (2/13), almendra (1/13), manzana

de Noé (1/13).

HONDURAS manzana (de Adán) (13/13). NICARAGUA manzana (de Adán) (10/10).COSTA RICA manzana (de Adán) (12/13), manzanilla (1/13).PANAMA manzana (de Adán) (11/13), nuez (de Adán) (2/13), pera (2/13).

CUBA nuez (de Adán) (11/16), manzana (de Adán) (3/16), bocado de Adán(1/16), gargantilla (1/16).

DOMIN. REP. manzana (de Adán) (7/12), nuez (de Adán) (5/12), galillo (4/12).

PUERTO RICO manzana (de Adán) (15/20), nuez (de Adán) (4/20), manzanilla (1/20),

pepa de Adán (1/20).VENEZUELA manzana (de Adán) (11/12), nuez (de Adán) (1/12).

COLOMBIA manzana (de Adán) (17/20), nuez (de Adán) (4/20).

ECUADOR manzana (de Adán) (9/11), nuez (de Adán) (2/11).PERU manzana (de Adán) (10/13), pera (2/13), nuez (1/13).

BOLIVIA manzana (de Adán) (7/14), pera (7/14), manzanilla (1/14), nuez de Adán(1/14).

PARAGUAY manzana (de Adán) (13/13).URUGUAY nuez (de Adán) (9/11), manzana (2/11).

ARGENTINA nuez (de Adán) (13/13), manzana (de Adán) (2/13).

CHILE manzana (de Adán) (13/18), nuez (6/18).



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B4.3 Details

General: Why is manzana (de Adán) more common in most of Spanish America and nuez (de

Adán) more common in Spain, Uruguay, Argentina and Cuba?Cuba: Is manzana (de Adán) more common than nuez (de Adán) in Oriente (eastern Cuba)?

Dominican Republic: Galillo is used in el habla popular (uneducated speech) and may also refer

to the neck or throat. Adán or no Adán?: Both manzana and manzana de Adán seem to be used interchangeably in a

majority of countries. However, in Spain and Chile, nuez is much more common than

nuez de Adán. Is this the case in Argentina and Uruguay as well? The four de-Adán formsencountered in this study are manzana de Adán, nuez de Adán, bocado de Adán and pepa

de Adán, but one woman from El Salvador offered manzana de Noé. While one can argue

that her knowledge of the Old Testament may be a bit rusty, the question remains as to

whether there are large numbers of Spanish speakers in El Salvador (and possiblyelsewhere) who are similarly “confused”.


Bocado de Adán (A or C?), galillo (D), manzana (A), manzana de Adán (A), manzanilla

(D), manzanita (D), nuez (A), nuez de Adán (F), pera (D).

C MISCELLANEOUS

C1 BLOND or FAIR-SKINNED

C1.1 Summary

Thirteen out of nineteen Spanish American countries have regional terms for people who are blond and/or fair-skinned. These regionalisms pertain to a lower, more familiar speech register

than rubio or de tez clara and most are commonly used in only one country. In countries withrelatively few natural blonds, the terms presented below tend to refer to anyone with light skin

color, light hair color, and/or light colored eyes. No regional terms for ‘blond’ were found inSpain, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

C1.2 Terms by Country (about 15 terms plus variants)

SPAIN no regional term (15/15).MEXICO güero (20/20), chele (1/20).

GUATEMALA canche (14/14).EL SALVADOR chele (13/13).HONDURAS chele (12/12), canche (6/12).

NICARAGUA chele (11/11).

COSTA RICA macho (12/12).

PANAMA fulo (13/13).CUBA no regional term (15/15).



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DOMIN. REP. no regional term (10/10).

PUERTO RICO cano (17/20), jincho (10/20).

VENEZUELA catire (14/14), catirrucio (4/14).COLOMBIA mono (15/15).ECUADOR suco (12/15), colorado (2/15), mico (1/15).

PERU no regional term (10/10).

BOLIVIA choco (9/13), jovero (5/13).PARAGUAY no regional term (12/12).

URUGUAY no regional term (10/10).

ARGENTINA no regional term (15/15).CHILE rucio (12/12).

C1.3 Details

Mexico: Do Mexicans generally agree that güero, not huero, is the correct spelling? Only a

handful of the Mexicans in this study favored huero. The person who used chele was

from Chiapas.

Puerto Rico: Cano means ‘blond’. Jincho means ‘light-skinned’ and is derogatory: it is oftenused to refer to people who are viewed as pale, sickly, or who do not tan the way a

majority of Puerto Ricans do. A jabao is a light-skinned black person with reddish, kinky

hair.Bolivia: There is evidence to suggest that jovero is used more in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz

than in La Paz. Is there any consensus among Bolivians regarding which spelling, jovero

or jobero, is “correct”?

Chile: The use of rucio in the sense of ‘blond’ is considered by many to be low -class usage(rubio being the “proper” term).

Gringo: Many people from Peru and Bolivia indicated that gringo is used in the sense of ‘blond’(in addition to its meaning of an American, European or other Caucasian-looking person).

Gringo in the sense of ‘blond’ was also given by at least one person from El Salvador,Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Paraguay and Chile. Is it that

gringo can mean ‘blond’ in some of these countries or simply that a blond is sometimesassumed to be American or European?

Additional Information: For extensive information on Spanish-language racial and ethnic

terminology, see Dictionary of Latin American Racial and Ethnic Terminology by

Thomas M. Stephens. A word of caution, however: the work defines thousands of racialand ethnic terms found in fiction and non-fiction writing since 1492, but it does not make

clear which terms are in current use.

C1.4 Real Academia Regional Review

Canche (F), cano (D), catire (B), catirrucio (F), chele (B), choco (D), fulo (F), güero (A),

huero (D), jincho (F), jobero (F), jovero (F), macho (D), mico (D), mono (A), rucio (D), suco (D).

This is how the Dictionary defines the following terms: catire “ Amér . Dícese del

individuo rubio, en especial del que tiene el pelo rojizo y ojos verdosos o amarillentos, por lo



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común hijo de blanco y mulata, o viceversa”; chele “adj. C. Rica y El Salv. Dícese de la persona

muy blanca o rubia. Ú. t. c. s.”; mico maicero (under mico) “Col . carablanca.”

Where in Spanish America is catire commonly used in the sense of rubio, hijo de blanco

y mulata and where, other than Venezuela, is the term used in any sense?

C2 TO CRACK ONE’S KNUCKLES

C2.1 Summary

There is no dominant phrase. Sonar(se) los dedos or hacerse sonar los dedos, although probably

understood in most Spanish-speaking countries, are the most commonly used phrases in only

four: Venezuela, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile. In the other sixteen countries a different verb or

a set phrase is generally used. In Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru there are unique phrases that are not commonly used in this sense in any other country.

C2.2 Terms by Country (about 18 phrases plus variants)

SPAIN crujir los dedos (7/15), chascar(se) los dedos (3/15), restallar los dedos

(3/15), sacar novias (2/15), chasquearse los dedos (1/15), estallar los dedos

(1/15), sonar los dedos (1/15).MEXICO tronar(se) los dedos (15/15).

GUATEMALA tronar(se) los dedos (11/11).

EL SALVADOR tronar(se) los dedos (12/12).HONDURAS tronar(se) los dedos (12/12).

NICARAGUA sacar(se) pulgas (9/13), tronar(se) los dedos (5/13).

COSTA RICA sacar(se) mentira(s) (12/15), traquear(se) los dedos (5/15), sonar los dedos

(2/15), tronar los dedos (2/15).PANAMA traquear(se) los dedos (13/13).CUBA traquear(se) los dedos (11/14), estrallarse los dedos (2/14), sonar los dedos

(1/14), tirarse un peo (1/14).DOMIN. REP. estrallar(se) los dedos (11/11), tronar(se) los dedos (2/11).

PUERTO RICO estrillar(se) los dedos (10/20), tronar(se) los dedos (5/20), sonar los dedos

(4/20), trillar los dedos (2/20), estrellar los dedos (1/20), restrillarse los

dedos (1/20).VENEZUELA sonar(se) los dedos (10/15), traquear(se) los dedos (5/15), tronar(se) los

dedos (4/15).

COLOMBIA sacar(se) las yucas (15/20), traquear(se) los dedos (3/20), tronar(se) losdedos (2/20), sacar novias (1/20).

ECUADOR sacar(se) cuy(es)/sacar(se) cuis (16/20), tronar(se) los dedos (3/20),sacarse un chivo (1/20).

PERU sacar(se) conejo(s) (16/20), sacar cuy (2/20), sacar chucaques (2/20).BOLIVIA sacar(se) mentira(s) (8/12), sacar(se) pecados (5/12), sonar los dedos

(2/12).

PARAGUAY sonar los dedos (7/7).URUGUAY sacar(se) mentiras (10/12), sonar los dedos (2/12), crujir los dedos (2/12).



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ARGENTINA (hacer) sonar los dedos (11/16), sacar(se) mentiras (7/16), crujir los dedos

(3/16).

CHILE sacar(se) mentira(s) (8/15), (hacer) sonar los dedos (7/15).

C2.3 Details

General: The phrases listed above of the form “verb + los dedos” also frequently take the form“verb + los nudillos” or “verb + los huesos”, etc. Thus traquearse los dedos, traquearse

los nudillos and traquearse los huesos can be used interchangeably (although this last

phrase could refer to other joints). Similarly, in phrases with sacar , the verb is optionallyreflexive and direct or indirect objects are also frequently optional. An example of this

are the variants sacar yucas, sacarse yucas and sacarse las yucas used in Colombia.

Ecuador: Cuy, an Andean rodent somewhat similar to a guinea pig, is pronounced by many

people as written, so that it rhymes with ¡uy! (with a y-sound at the end of the diphthong).However, the word is frequently pronounced cui

__ like the first syllable in cuidado

__ by

people from the Sierra and especially among the indigenous population. The two

different pronunciations of cuy/cui are easily perceived in the plural forms, cuyes (two

syllables) vs. cuis (one syllable). Cuye is also listed as the singular form in manySpanish-language dictionaries, but was not offered by Ecuadorans in this study. In the

Andean region, who says cuy, who says cui and who says cuye?

Peru: Two people offered the expression sacar chucaques in the sense of ‘to crack one’sknuckles’ but most Peruvians said it refers to pulling strands of hair in order to relieveheadaches and other pain.

Paraguay: Although seven Paraguayans offered the expression sonar los dedos, many others

interviewed had difficulty answering this question. Some indicated that the Guaraní phrase is emopururõ nde kuã. Is it the case that sonar los dedos is too formal and stiff a

phrase to be used in everyday speech and that the Guaraní phrase in Paraguay serves the

same function as popular Spanish expressions (such as sacarse las yucas, sacarse

conejos) do in other Spanish-speaking countries? This could explain the absence of acommonly used, popular Spanish-language expression for this in Paraguay.


Crujir los dedos (F), chascar los dedos (F), chasquear los dedos (F), estallar los dedos

(F), estrallar los dedos (F), estrellar los dedos (F), estrillar los dedos (F), restallar los dedos (F),restrillar los dedos (F), sacar conejo(s) (F), sacar cuy(es) (F), sacar mentiras (F), sacar novias

(F), sacar pecado(s) (F), sacar pulgas (F), sacar yucas (F), sonar los dedos (F), traquear los

dedos (F), trillar los dedos (F), tronar los dedos (F).Should some or all of the above expressions be defined in the Dictionary? In the case of

ones such as crujir los dedos, sonar los dedos and tronar los dedos, one can argue that themeaning of the expressions flows directly from the meanings of the verbs crujir , sonar and

tronar and the noun dedo. In other words, if you know what crujir , sonar or tronar means, andyou know what dedo means, then you should know what the expressions that contain them mean

and, therefore, defining them is unnecessary. To what extent is this true? Even if it is, shouldn’tthese phrases be defined simply because they are regional rather than General Spanishexpressions?



20

In the case of a highly regional expression such as sacarse las yucas, its meaning does

not appear to be easily derived from its component parts, even if one looks at the phrase from the

perspective of Colombian Spanish. It should, therefore, be defined in the Dictionary, unless

Colombians would answer the following question in the affirmative: ¿Acaso existe unaverdadera yuca que se saque al presionar los nudillos? Similar questions can be asked with

regard to other expressions: ¿Cuál es la naturaleza de estos conejos, pulgas y mentiras que se

sacan? What criteria should be used to determine which expressions are to be defined and which

need not be? By way of comparison, the American Heritage Dictionary does not include a

definition of “to crack one’s knuckles”. Its editors believe that the meaning of this phrase flowsdirectly from the meanings of the words “crack” (“to cause to make a sharp snapping sound”)and “knuckle”. If this phrase is regionally weighted, however, an argument could be made fordefining it based on this fact alone.

C3 DENTAL FILLING

C3.1 Summary

There is no single dominant term. Amalgama, empaste and/or relleno are the most commonly

used terms in thirteen countries. Most of the remaining terms derive from the verbs calzar , curar and tapar , or from the metals, plata and plomo. In many countries amalgama tends to be used in

more formal language and another term is more common in everyday language. However, in the

more technical language of dentists, finer distinctions are often made between the different types

of fillings, i.e. amalgams vs. composites, etc. Section C3.2 below lists the imprecise, layperson’sterms.

C3.2 Terms by Country (about 15 terms plus variants)

SPAIN empaste (15/15).

MEXICO relleno (10/20), amalgama (9/20), empaste (3/20), tapadura (2/20).GUATEMALA relleno (13/13).

EL SALVADOR relleno (12/12).

HONDURAS tapón (7/10), relleno (5/10), tapado (2/10).

NICARAGUA calza (8/12), calzadura (6/12), relleno (4/12).COSTA RICA calza (10/10).

PANAMA calza (11/12), amalgama (2/12), empaste (2/12), relleno (2/12), calzadura

(1/12).CUBA empaste (12/12).

DOMIN. REP. empaste (10/12), relleno (4/12).PUERTO RICO empaste (14/20), relleno (10/20), empastadura (6/20), platificación (5/20).VENEZUELA amalgama (7/12), empaste (4/12), calza (3/12), relleno (3/12), platino

(2/12), emplomado (1/12).

COLOMBIA calza (15/20), amalgama (4/20), calzadura (1/20), empaste (1/20).

ECUADOR calce (7/12), calza (5/12), curación (2/12), empaste (2/12), amalgama(1/12).



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PERU curación (7/13), amalgama (5/13), relleno (4/13), empaste (2/13), tapadura

(1/13).

BOLIVIA tapadura (9/13), relleno (5/13), amalgama (3/13), calzadura (1/13),

empastadura (1/13).PARAGUAY emplomadura (11/14), relleno (3/14), amalgama (3/14), pasta (3/14),

curación (1/14).

URUGUAY amalgama (7/11), emplomadura (7/11), relleno (4/11), empastadura (3/11).ARGENTINA emplomadura (13/20), arreglo (10/20), amalgama (5/20), empastadura

(2/20), tapadura (2/20).

CHILE tapadura (12/12).

C3.3 Details

General: Many people do not use any word for ‘dental filling’ and simply use a verbal expressionsuch as me arreglaron un diente or me taparon una muela. Arreglo is frequently used

loosely by many Argentines in the general sense of ‘dental work’ but since a filling is themost common type of dental work, this word often refers to a filling. The same can be

said of curación in Peru. A number of Argentines indicated that the use of emplomadura is now old-fashioned and is used more by the older generations. To what extent is the use

of emplomadura dying out in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina?


Amalgama (D), arreglo (D), calce (D), calza (B), calzadura (D), curación (D),

empastadura (D), empaste (A or C?), emplomadura (B), platificación (F), platino (D), relleno (D), tapado (D), tapadura (D), tapón (D).

Empaste is defined as “2. Pasta con que se llena el hueco hecho por la caries en undiente” and calza and emplomadura are defined in terms of empaste: calza, “7. fig. Col., Ecuad .

y Pan. Empaste de un diente o muela”; emplomadura, “3. Argent . y Urug . Empaste de un dienteo una muela.” Why does the definition for calza include a “fig.” (figurative usage) label? Its usein Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador is no more figurative than that ofempaste, emplomadura or any of the other regionally weighted terms in their respective regions.

C4 SIGN OR HAND SIGNAL USED TO INDICATE PERSON’S HEIGHT

[Illustrations in original publication not included]

A = Hand held in a horizontal position, palm facing down, fingers extended. The height being

indicated corresponds to the palm.B = Hand held in a vertical position, thumb above pinkie, fingers extended. The height being

indicated corresponds to the lower edge of the pinkie.C = Hand held in an oblique position, palm facing down; the four fingers other than the thumb

are sometimes curved (unlike in the above drawing). The height being indicated

corresponds to the tips of the four fingers.



22

D = Hand held in a horizontal or oblique position, palm facing up, index finger extended. The

height being indicated corresponds to the tip of the index finger.

C4.1 Summary

Sign A appears to be the most commonly used one in Spain and in over half of Spanish America.

However, in Mexico, most of Hispanic Central America, and Colombia and Ecuador, other signs(B, C or D) are more common. In most of the latter countries a different sign is generally used to

indicate the height of an animal (see section C4.3, below) and it is considered a faux pas not to

make the distinction. In a number of countries the sign used may depend, among other factors,on whether a person is from an urban or rural area.

C4.2 Signs by Country (at least 4 signs plus variants)

SPAIN A (15/15).

MEXICO D (12/20), A (5/20), C (5/20).

GUATEMALA C (5/13), A (5/13), C' (3/13).EL SALVADOR C (10/10).HONDURAS C (8/13), A (4/13), A' (1/13).

NICARAGUA C (10/10).COSTA RICA C (8/10), A (2/10).PANAMA A (10/11), B (1/11).

CUBA A (9/10), C (1/10).

DOMIN. REP. A (10/10).PUERTO RICO A (15/15).VENEZUELA A (12/12).

COLOMBIA B (15/15).ECUADOR B (10/10).PERU A (12/12).BOLIVIA A (12/12).

PARAGUAY A (13/13).URUGUAY A (10/10).

ARGENTINA A (10/10).

CHILE A (10/10).

C4.3 Details

General: Where signs B, C and D are used, can their use be attributed to an indigenoussubstratum? If not, what does account for the fact that different signs are used in different

regions? In most of the countries where signs B, C and D are used to indicate the heightof a person, different signs are used to indicate the height of an animal and using the

wrong sign is considered a faux pas, or an indication that the person is uneducated or aforeigner.

Mexico: Signs D, A and C were offered for people. Who uses which sign? Several Mexicans

indicated sign B was used for animals.



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Guatemala: Three respondents indicated that for people they use a sign similar to C but with the

index and middle fingers extended and the other three bent (like the hand signal for

“peace” in the United States of the 1960s but with the hand tilted forward at an angle).This sign is indicated in section C4.2 above as C'.

El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua & Costa Rica: To indicate the height of an animal some

people from these countries indicated sign A and others sign B, and others said it depends

on the size and type of the animal. (For example, several stated that when they indicatethe height of a chicken they are referring to the animal’s head and the sign they use iswith the palm facing down and all five fingers curved whereas when they indicate the

height of a cow, it is the animal’s back that is being referred to and they use sign A.) Honduras: Several Hondurans queried use three signs to indicate height: C for persons, A for

animals, and hand in a horizontal position with palm up for plants which we shall call A'.

A' was also used by one person to indicate the height of a person (see section C4.2

above).Panama: One Panamanian said sign B was once used for people but has been replaced by sign A.

Colombia & Ecuador: Sign A is used to indicate the height of animals and to use it for people is

considered a faux pas.

Peru, Bolivia & Paraguay: The respondents queried from these countries all indicated sign A wasused to indicate people’s height, but almost all were from urban areas. What signs areused for this by the rural and indigenous populations of these three countries?

APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL TOPICS

The following is a small selection of additional topics in the field of Spanish lexical dialectologythat relate to people. In many cases, only a few informants from each specified country or region

have been observed or questioned regarding these issues, and the findings are therefore tentative.

No doubt most of the usages presented are used in more regions than those listed; the

information provided is based on the data the author was able to collect.Although some information is provided on how the terminology varies by region, the

topics are primarily presented to call attention to their existence as possible dialectological issuesand to encourage others to research them further. In each entry the referent or a set of referents is

indicated, but the connotations associated with them are generally not specified, or are specified

only minimally. In order for the terms to be defined in dictionaries their speech registers,

connotations and, in some cases, the exact referents themselves will have to be fully investigated.Spelling (and thus etymological) issues such as c vs. s and y vs. ll are also raised. All

references to definitions are to those of the 1992 edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua

Española.Some of the following items involve language that is vulgar, taboo and/or derogatory.

The author does not advocate using such language nor is it his intention to offend anyone byincluding it. He does, however, believe that all words in common usage (including unpleasant

terms or ones that express bigotry) should be defined in unabridged, general dictionaries andhopes that many of those presented here will find a home in the major Spanish-language

dictionaries.



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bald. Calvo is the standard term everywhere, but in less formal language the following terms

appear to be regionally weighted: pela(d)o (Spain?, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,

Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile); pelón (Spain, Mexico, Hispanic Central America,

Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia); coco bolo (Panama); bola de billar (Cuba?); caco pelao (Dominican Republic; see head below); coquipelao (Puerto Rico); acá perõ or acã perõ

(Paraguay, Guaraní term; see head below). Note that both pelado and pelón appear to be

commonly used in Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia.belly button (navel). A few regional, infantile and/or informal words for ombligo have been

found: botón (Spain); maruto (Venezuela); melic (Alicante, Spain?); mosh/mush

(Guatemala; is this a Mayan term?); pupo (Colombia?, Ecuador, Peru?, Bolivia,Uruguay?, Argentina, Chile?; are pupo, pupu and puputi Quechua terms?); pupu

(Ecuador, Bolivia); puputi (Peru); purũ-á or puru-á (Paraguay, Guaraní term); rinrín

(Spain; and other countries?); timbre (Colombia, Argentina? and other countries?). In

addition, a respondent from Badajoz, Spain indicated that ombrigo is used there in popular speech.

boo-boo or owie (a bruise, scrape or other minor injury in baby talk). The following equivalents

have been heard, usually with the verbs tener or hacerse as in se hizo ____ or se hizo

un(a) ____ (“____” gets replaced by the word given below): achichiú or achichuy (Bolivia); nana (Argentina); pupa (Spain); yaya (Cuba, Peru, Chile); yayay (Ecuador).

What other regional words are there for this that are used by toddlers and young children,

and by adults when talking to them?boyfriend / girlfriend. Novio and novia are the standard terms in most of the Spanish-speaking

world, but enamorado and enamorada are more common in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

In Chile, pololo/a is used much more often than novio/a in this sense (although it pertains

to a more familiar speech register), and appears to be used occasionally in Bolivia. In allcountries except Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, novio/a is regularly used in the sense

of a) boyfriend/girlfriend, b) fiancé(e), and c) bride/groom, whereas in these four

countries novio/a is used in senses b) and c), but generally not in sense a).

The following non-standard terms for ‘boyfriend/girlfriend’ are also used (manyof which mean ‘guy’ or ‘gal,’ can be derogatory, and/or suggest a non-serious

relationship): cabro/a (Costa Rica); chavo (Mexico); chicoí or shico’í (Paraguay, Guaraníterm); festejante (Paraguay); firmeza or jirmeza (Chile; jirmeza is the popular

pronunciation); jeba (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela);

morra (Mexico); pelado/a (Ecuador); pendeja (Paraguay); pocholo (Spain?); pibo/a

(Extremadura, Spain); pie (Panama?); ruca (Mexico); traido (Guatemala; note the wordis pronounced with two syllables, traido, not traído* with three syllables).

Novio/a is defined in the Dictionary as “3. La [persona] que mantiene relaciones

amorosas en expectativa de futuro matrimonio.” This definition is clearly outdated in thesociocultural contexts of present-day Spain and Latin America where countless novios

and novias do not necessarily expect to marry the person they are currently seeing (oranyone at all for that matter). Compare the above definition of novio/a to the AmericanHeritage Dictionary’s much more open-ended definitions of boyfriend (“A favored malecompanion or sweetheart”) and girlfriend (“A favored female companion or sweetheart”)which make no reference to matrimonial expectations. The American HeritageDictionary’s definitions do not even refer directly to “love” or “romance” although theseare perhaps implied by the term “sweetheart.” Does the Spanish Royal Academy need to



25

be reminded that both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are over? One can only hope

that by the time the twenty-second century rolls around, it will have modernized its

definition of novio/a so that it conforms to reality.broke (‘having no money’). The following slang and informal adjectives and expressions, all of

the form estar or andar + ____ (“____” gets replaced by the word or expression given below), are rough equivalents of ‘(to be) broke’: a dos velas (Spain); arranca(d)o (Cuba,

Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico); bruja (Cuba; this word appears to be común de dos,that is, bruja can be both the masculine and feminine form of the adjective);

comiéndo(se) un cable (Cuba, Venezuela); chiro (Ecuador); desperra(d)o (Andalucía and

Extremadura, Spain); en carne (Cuba); en el lodre (Venezuela); en la cama de los perros (Panama); en la carraplana (Venezuela); en la chilla, en la quinta chilla or en la vil

chilla (Mexico); en la fuácata (Cuba); en la lipidia (Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama); en

la liquidia (Nicaragua); en la llaga (Uruguay); en la olla (Dominican Republic,

Colombia); en la prángana (Cuba, Puerto Rico); en la tusa (Costa Rica); en la vía or en pampa y la vía (Argentina); escacha(d)o (Cuba); fundi(d)o (Chile, Uruguay); gafo

(Guatemala); hule (Honduras); largado (Bolivia); misio (Peru); palma(d)o (Nicaragua);

pato (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile); pelando or pelando bola (Venezuela);

plancha(d)o (Chile); seco (Argentina); sin blanca (Spain); sin un duro (Spain); sogüé or soŷgue (Paraguay, Guaraní term); yesca (Bolivia. Is this an Aymara term? Does it mean

‘dry’?). In addition, the following adjectives and phrases which can mean ‘broke’ appear

to be, if not universal, widely used in the Spanish-speaking world: limpio, pela(d)o;

quebra(d)o; con una mano adelante y la otra atrás.

chancletero . The derogatory and sexist noun/adjective chancletero is used in a number of

Spanish American countries to refer to a man who has daughters but no sons. In whichcountries is the term commonly used in this sense? It derives from chancleta which is

defined as “2. fam. y despect. Amér . Mujer, en especial la recién nacida.” Is this use ofchancleta as common as the use of chancletero?

chin. In general language, barbilla is the most commonly used term in most Spanish-speakingcountries (although mentón is often heard in the context of boxing). However, the words

given below are more regional, provide more local color, and are often used in lessformal situations: cumbamba (Colombia); chiva (Puerto Rico); pera (Uruguay,

Argentina, Chile); piocha (Mexico).

Although technically it refers to the entire jaw, quijada (often pronounced quijá)was found to be frequently used in the sense of ‘chin’ in Guatemala, El Salvador,Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia,

Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay. Finally, barba was found to be used in the sense of

‘chin’ in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and Cuba. The Dictionary defines barba as “Partede la cara, que está debajo de la boca” with no regional specification. Is barba commonly

used in the sense of ‘chin’ everywhere? crazy. The following terms and phrases are used in slang and informal speech in the sense of

‘crazy’ by people from the following countries: craquea(d)o (Puerto Rico; from “crackcocaine”); chala(d)o (Spain, Chile); chusemo (Guatemala); desquicia(d)o (Puerto Rico);

flipa(d)o (Spain; from English “flip,” “flipped”); fu (Dominican Republic?); gallado or a

ése le galla (Chile); majara and majareta (Spain; these terms are común de dos); mal dela olla (Spain); le patina el cloch/clutch (Panama); pirado (Spain, Mexico?, Uruguay,



26

Argentina?; is this usage universal?); se le bota la canica (Mexico); sollado (Colombia?,

Venezuela?); tabyron (Paraguay?); tarado de la olla or mal de la olla (Spain); tarová

(Paraguay, Guaraní term); tocado del ala (Spain); tocado del techo (Costa Rica); tiene

comején en la azotea or tiene guayabitos en la azotea (Cuba); tiene un pase (Cuba); tojpi (Bolivia); vola(d)o (Dominican Republic).

How universal are the following expressions? Le falta un tornillo, le falta una

tuerca, se le aflojó el tornillo, se le salió un tornillo, se le cayó un tornillo, se le perdióun tornillo, se le zafó un tornillo, tiene los tornillos sueltos, tiene un tornillo suelto, le

falta una teja, se le corrió una teja, se le corrieron las tejas, tiene los cables cruzados, le

patina el coco, se le metió el agua. How universal are chiflado, quemado, rayado, tocado and tostado? Más loco que una cabra is universal, but are there other más loco que un(a)

____ phrases that are more regional, where “____” is replaced by some word or phraseother than cabra?

driver (chofer vs. chófer ). Chofer seems to be the preferred spelling and pronunciation inSpanish America whereas both chófer and chofer seem to be used in Spain. In Spain, is

chófer preferred over chofer ? It should also be noted that many Argentines pronounce

chofer with a sh sound, [sho-FER]. Do any Argentines (and Uruguayans) also write the

word with the French spelling, chauffeur ?For a ‘truck driver,’ camionero is the standard term, but troquero is used in

Mexico (perhaps more so in northern border speech) and Puerto Rico (and elsewhere?),

and gandolero is used in Venezuela. In addition, trailero is frequently used in Mexicoand Hispanic Central America (and elsewhere?) to refer to a person who drives a tráiler

(‘tractor trailer’ or ‘semi’). exclamations. What are all the regional exclamations used to express different feelings and

emotions such as surprise, disappointment, pain, etc.? Here are just a handful ofexamples: In highland Ecuador achachay is used in the sense of ¡qué frío! (“brrr”)whereas in parts of highland Bolivia alalay is used in this sense; and in highland Ecuador

arrarray is used when one gets burned and in some regions of Bolivia, atatay. These

terms appear to be quechuismos. To express surprise, Ecuadorans often say ¡chiza! (los serranos) or ¡chuzo! and ¡vesa! (los costeños; vesa may derive from ¡vea esa!).

gentilicios (regionales y populares). The following are some regional names for inhabitants of particular countries which are often used in informal speech: catracho = hondureño (in

Central America); chapín = guatemalteco (in Central America); chocho, muco or nica =

nicaragüense (in Central America); guanaco = salvadoreño (in Central America); tico =

costarricense; paisa = colombiano (in Ecuador; in Colombia, a paisa is a person from thedepartments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda or Quindío); mono = ecuatoriano (in Peru;

in Ecuador, a mono is a costeño, an Ecuadoran from the coastal region); perucho and

veinte y ocho = peruano (in Bolivia); roto = chileno (in Bolivia; in Chile a roto is a poor,lower-class person); gaucho = argentino (in Bolivia); patapila = paraguayo (in Bolivia);

gallego = español (in Argentina and Uruguay); gachupín = español (in Mexico).These are what we may call “regional national gentilicios,” that is, regionalisms

that refer to nationalities. There are also many gentilicios that refer to particular regionswithin countries (such as paisa in Colombia) or social groups (such as roto in Chile) and

which are also regionalisms. A list of these “regional regional gentilicios” and “regionalsocial gentilicios” should also be compiled.



27

head. The following terms are used in the sense of cabeza in slang or informal speech (many are

humorous terms): acá or acã (Paraguay, Guaraní term); ayote (Guatemala, El Salvador);

azotea (Spain, Mexico, Argentina; is this usage universal?); bocha and bocho (Argentina,

Uruguay); bola (Spain); caco (Dominican Republic; does caco come from casco?);cachueca or catrueca (Puerto Rico); casco (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela?); cepa

(Dominican Republic); coca (Panama); cococha (Ecuador); cocorota (Colombia, Spain);

cotarro (Córdoba, Spain); crisma (Puerto Rico?); cucuza or cucuzza (Argentina; fromItalian cocuzza, ‘head,’ or perhaps from a dialect of Italian?); chaveta (Spain,

Guatemala?, Puerto Rico?); chiluca (Mexico?); chola (Mexico?, Cuba, Puerto Rico);

chompeta (Nuevo León, Mexico); chómpira (Sonora, Mexico); chontoca or chorontoca (El Salvador); chorla? (Spain); choya or cholla (Mexico, El Salvador; which is the

“correct” spelling?); foco (Paraguay?); güiro (Cuba, Venezuela?); jícara (Nicaragua);

jupa (Costa Rica); maceta (Mexico, Guatemala, Dominican Republic); magín (Ecuador?,

Alicante, Spain); mamerria (Dominican Republic); marote (Paraguay, Uruguay,Argentina); mate (Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile); mema (Mexico?,

Honduras); mirla (Málaga, Spain); mitra (Peru); mollera (Spain, Venezuela, Colombia,

Bolivia); moropo (Cuba); morra (Guatemala); morro (Honduras); motola (Colombia?);

múcura (Colombia?); mula (Colombia); ñola (El Salvador); pelota (Spain); perol (Alicante, Spain); piso de más arriba (Argentina); platabanda (Venezuela); porra

(Colombia?); sabiola or zabiola (Argentina, Uruguay; Lunfardo term; how should this

word be spelled?); shola (Guatemala; is this a Mayan term?); tarro (Alicante, Spain);tenamaste (Honduras?); terraza (Argentina); testa (Spain, Mexico?, Costa Rica,

Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina; is this usage universal?); tetunta (El

Salvador); torra (Badajoz, Spain); torre or torre de control (Costa Rica, Venezuela,

Colombia); totoca (El Salvador); tusta (Colombia); tutuma (Peru?); zabeca (Argentina;metathesis of cabeza).

homosexual. There are many regional, slang terms for ‘male homosexual’. Using GeneralSpanish terminology as a reference point, some of the following are as vulgar and

offensive as maricón (‘queer,’ ‘faggot’) while others are more like the milder mariquita (‘fairy’): argolla (Venezuela); ave (Costa Rica?); badea (Guayaquil, Ecuador?); cabro

(Peru); ciento ocho (Paraguay; this usage apparently derives from a historical event inwhich a gay bar in Asunción was raided and 108 alleged homosexuals were arrested;

when did this take place?); colisa or colisón (Chile); cueco (Panama); culero (El

Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica?; is this usage universal?); cochón (Nicaragua); cherna

(Cuba); farifo (Puerto Rico); fleto (Chile); fresco (Santa Cruz, Bolivia?); ganso (Cuba); guajolote (Mexico?); hueco (Guatemala, Chile?); joto (Mexico, El Salvador?); loca

(Spain?, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru,

Bolivia?, Uruguay?, Argentina, Chile?; this usage seems to be universal; is it?); maraco (Ecuador?, Bolivia?, Chile?); marchatrás (Mexico?, Venezuela?, Uruguay, Argentina. Is

this usage universal? If so, how universal is the hand signal used to refer to the fact thatsomeone is gay in which the person imitates the motion of putting a stick-shift car into

reverse?); meco (Quito, Ecuador?); pájaro (Costa Rica?, Panama, Cuba, DominicanRepublic, Puerto Rico; is this usage universal?); parcha (Venezuela); pargo (Cuba,

Puerto Rico?, Venezuela); pargolete (Venezuela); partido (Cuba, Puerto Rico,

Venezuela); pato (Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Ecuador?,Peru; is this usage universal?); plátano or platango (Costa Rica?); playo (Costa Rica);



28

puñal (Mexico); rosca (Colombia, Peru); rosquete (Peru); sarasa (Barcelona, Spain);

soplanuca (Paraguay, Argentina, Chile); trolo or trolín (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina);

volteado (Panama?, Colombia).

The phrases del otro equipo and del otro bando seem to be used practicallyeverywhere in the Spanish-speaking world to refer to homosexuals, but the following

phrases that were encountered may be more regional: lo mismo raspa que pinta (Puerto

Rico); patea con el pie izquierdo (Costa Rica); de rosca izquierda (Colombia); marinerode agua dulce (Puerto Rico); bota la segunda (Venezuela); corre pa’ tercera (Mexico);

de la acera de enfrente (Spain); de mano aguada (Guatemala). Surely, these are only the

tip of the iceberg. Which, if any, of these expressions could be considered part of GeneralSpanish? Would all of them be readily understood out of context by many Spanish-

speakers everywhere, even if not used everywhere with equal frequency? What are all of

the signs or hand signals used to refer to gays? (See marchatrás in the preceding

paragraph for one such example.)The term gay, pronounced as if written guey or guei, is widely used (with the

same meaning as in English) throughout the Spanish-speaking world and needs to be

defined in the Dictionary. How should this word be spelled?

Lastly, what are all the regional slang terms for ‘lesbian’? Is the use of tortillera in this sense universal or regionally weighted?

horny. The following are regional slang terms for ‘sexually aroused’: alzado (Argentina?);

arrecho (Costa Rica?, Panama, Dominican Republic, Venezuela?, Colombia, Ecuador,Peru, Bolivia); bellaco (Puerto Rico); berrindio (Venezuela); berriondo (Venezuela?);

birriondo (Mexico?, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela); cachondo (Spain, Mexico,

Venezuela?); cachudo (Venezuela); cuilio (El Salvador?); embramado (El Salvador?,

Honduras, Nicaragua); jarioso (Sonora, Mexico; and other regions of Mexico?); quesudo (Venezuela); recho (Dominican Republic); pisón (El Salvador?); salido (Spain);

veraneado (Venezuela); vola(d)o (Cuba).

Note that Venezuela appears to have the largest number of words for this item of

any Spanish-speaking country. Also, the vulgar term arrecho, which means ‘sexuallyaroused’ in some countries has other meanings such as ‘angry,’ ‘annoyed,’ ‘tough,’‘spirited,’ ‘difficult’ or ‘fantastic’ in other countries. For examp le, in Venezuela arrecho often means ‘pissed off’ but the expression ¡qué arrecho! is used to express enthusiastic

approval as a vulgar equivalent of ¡qué chévere! (which is more or less equivalent to ¡qué

macanudo! in the River Plate region). The Dictionary lists three senses for arrecho and

no regional specification for any of them, but it is clear that this term is regionallyweighted.

missing a limb. Manco is the international standard noun-adjective used to describe persons who

are missing a hand or arm, but the following more regional terms also refer to personswho are missing some limb or other: coto (Nicaragua); cucho (Mexico?); cuenco (El

Salvador); cullo (Ecuador?); cuto (Guatemala, El Salvador); chenco (Guatemala); chueco (Colombia?, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay?); mocho (Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba,

Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile; is this usage universal?); munco (Mexico, Honduras?, Panama?); ñeco (Dominican Republic); ñoco (Dominican Republic,

Puerto Rico, Colombia?); tuco (Puerto Rico); tunco (Mexico?, Guatemala, Honduras,

Nicaragua?); zunco (Chile; either hand missing or left hand missing?).



29

Are renco and rengo universally used in the sense of cojo (‘lame’) or are theyregional? Choco is defined as “4. Se dice de aquel a quien le falta una pierna o una

oreja.” Where is this term commonly used in this sense?naked (popular and informal terms and phrases). The phrases estar en cuero(s), estar en

pelota(s) and como Dios lo mandó (or trajo) al mundo are universal, but the following are

more regional ways of saying desnudo in informal speech: bichi or bichicori (Mexico);

cala or calancho (Bolivia; from Quechua or Aymara k’ala?); calato (Peru); chingo (Costa Rica); chin(it)o (Venezuela); chulón (El Salvador); empeloto (Colombia); en bolas

(Spain, Guatemala, Uruguay, Argentina; is this usage universal?); en pepas (Ecuador); en

porretas (Spain); esnú or ernú (Puerto Rico; derived from desnudo); llucho (Ecuador, inthe Sierra); pilucho (Chile?); viringo (Colombia).

ordinario . The following are regional nouns and/or adjectives that are used in the sense of

‘lacking in taste,’ ‘low-class,’ ‘ill-mannered’ or ‘rustic’: balurdo (Venezuela); brocha

(Colombia; this word is común de dos); cafre (Puerto Rico); catre (Spain); corriente (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico); corroncho (Colombia; this

word can also mean costeño and tends to be derogatory in this sense as well); coüguá

(Paraguay, Guaraní term); cutre (Spain); chabacán (Colombia?); chabacano (Spain,

Cuba, Venezuela; is this usage universal?); chafo (Mexico?, Guatemala); charro (PuertoRico); cheo (Cuba); cholero (Guatemala); cholo (Ecuador, Bolivia; this word also refers

to certain racial and/or social groups and tends to be derogatory in those senses as well);

chopo (Dominican Republic?); grasa (Argentina, Uruguay; term appears to be común dedos); hortera (Spain; this word is común de dos); huachafo (Peru); lobo (Colombia);

longo (Ecuador, in the Sierra; in the Costa it refers pejoratively to serranos, that is,

people from the Sierra); maicero (Costa Rica); mañe (Medellín, Colombia?); merdellón

(Málaga, Spain?); mersa (Argentina; this word is común de dos); moncho (Costa Rica?);montubio/montuvio (Ecuador; means an ignorant rustic; which spelling is considered

“correct”?); naco (Mexico); ñuco (Medellín, Colombia?); pachanguero (Spain?);

pachuco (Costa Rica); pajuerano (Argentina; means rustic; derives from pa’ fuera);

paleto (Spain); palurdo (Spain); picúo (Cuba; from picudo); polo (Costa Rica); rasca (Paraguay; this word appears to be común de dos); ranchu(d)o (Venezuela); roto or

roteque (Chile); runa (Ecuador, in the Sierra; this word, from Quechua/Quichua, iscomún de dos); runcho (Panama); shumo (Guatemala; is this a Mayan term?); terraja

(Uruguay; is it común de dos?); tierrúo (Puerto Rico); vairo (Paraguay?); valle

(Paraguay).What are all of the phrases of the type “más ordinario que...” that are used to refer

to low-class people or behavior and to what extent is each regional? For example, in

Colombia, the phrase más ordinario que un hipopótamo con sudadera, (literally, “morecommon/low class than a hippopotamus wearing a sweatshirt”), is commonly used torefer to the low-class nature of a person or his or her clothing, behavior, etc.

parents (mom and dad). Many Mexicans use jefa for ‘mom’ and jefe for ‘dad’. What are thecharacteristics of those Mexicans who use these terms in these senses? Less educated

Mexicans? Rural Mexicans? Mexicans from certain states? Are there other regionalwords for ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ in other countries? See twins below.

What about the speech registers that correspond to madre/mamá/mami and

padre/papá/papi? Do these terms have everywhere the same values on the formality-informality axis? In which speech communities are the phrases tu madre/su madre



30

scrupulously avoided and substituted by tu mamá/su mamá when referring to

‘your/his/her/their mother’ in a neutral sense? The strong insult ¡tu madre! (which is

more or less equivalent to the inner city phrase “yo mothuh”) appears to be universal, and

yet in certain regions, or among certain speech communities, any phrase with madre andtu/su seems to get associated with the insult. Where?

penis. (slang terms). The following terms have been offered as rough equivalents of ‘dick’ and‘cock’. However, their speech registers range from being very vulgar at one end of thespectrum to being mild and humorous at the other: barraganete (Ecuador?); bicho

(Cuba?, Puerto Rico); bichola (Mexico?); binbín (Dominican Republic); catso

(Argentina?); cipote (Spain?); chile (Mexico, Guatemala); choto (Argentina); diuca (Chile?); garcha (Uruguay?); hierro (Puerto Rico); huachalote and hualo (Chile?);

macana (Mexico?); machete (Venezuela); mamerro (Puerto Rico?); mangarria (Chile?);

mondá (Colombia); moronga (Cuba?); morronga (Guatemala?); pájaro (Mexico,

Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Venezuela?, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia?, Argentina?; is this usageuniversal?); paloma (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia?; is

this usage universal?); penca (Chile); pendorcha (Argentina); pico (Chile; for this reason

one may want to avoid phrases like en una hora y pico when in Chile); picha (Spain,

Costa Rica, Panama); pichi (Bolivia); pichula (Peru, Argentina?, Chile); pija (Spain,Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina; is this

usage universal?); pilón (Venezuela?); pincho (Peru); pindonga (Argentina?); pinga

(Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia?,Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay; is this usage universal?); pingo (Puerto Rico, Colombia?,

Bolivia?, Argentina); pipe (Guatemala); pirulí or pirulina (Barcelona, Spain); pito (Spain,

Mexico, Panama, Cuba, Paraguay, Argentina; is this usage universal?); pizarrín

(Mexico); polla (Spain); popeta (Puerto Rico?); poronga or puronga (Uruguay?,Argentina); ripio (Dominican Republic?); tanate (Guatemala?); tilín (Mexico); tolete

(Dominican Republic?).vagina. (slang terms). The following terms have been offered as rough equivalents of ‘cunt’

and/or ‘pussy’: almeja (Spain, Panama?, Argentina?); amapola (Spain?); araña (Mexico,Puerto Rico); arepa (Colombia); argolla (Argentina); bisagra (Panama?); bollo (Cuba,

Venezuela); cachucha (Nicaragua, Chile?); cajeta (Argentina?); castaña (Salamanca,Spain?); cocho (Bolivia); concha (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina,

Chile); conejo (Spain); coño (Spain, Venezuela?, Argentina?); cotorra (Uruguay); crica

(Puerto Rico); cruca (Chile); cuca (Mexico?, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama?,

Dominican Republic?, Venezuela, Colombia; is this usage universal?); cuchara (Guatemala, Venezuela); cuchufleta (Guatemala, Venezuela); chepa (Ecuador?); chimba

(Colombia?); chirla (Spain?); chocha (Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia); chocho

(Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela?); chorra (Mexico?); chucha (Panama,Venezuela?, Colombia, Ecuador?, Peru, Bolivia, Chile); chumi (Mexico?); chumino

(Spain?); chupila (Bolivia?); empanada (Costa Rica?); figa (Alicante, Spain?); mejillón (Spain; this appears to be a spin-off of almeja); mico (Guatemala?, El Salvador?,

Honduras?); micha (Panama); nini (Spain?); pájara (Puerto Rico); pan (Guatemala,Colombia?); panocha (Mexico, Costa Rica?); papa (Peru); papaya (Mexico, Cuba,

Colombia?); papo (Cuba?, Venezuela?); parrocha (Spain?); pay/pie (Panama; pronounced like English “pie”); pepa (Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica); pochocha (Venezuela); pucha (Mexico?); pupusa (Guatemala?, El Salvador?, Honduras?); pusa



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(Guatemala); raja (Venezuela?); sapo (Costa Rica, Peru?); tamal (Mexico?); tatú

(Paraguay; is this a Guaraní term?); tontón (Panama?); tortuga (Guatemala?); tota

(Puerto Rico); toto (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela); totona (Venezuela).police officer (slang terms). There are many slang terms for ‘police officer’. To say they are

rough equivalents of U.S. English ‘cop,’ however, is problematic because police officersare generally not as professional or highly regarded in Spanish-speaking countries as they

are in the United States. Hopefully, police forces everywhere will become increasingly professionalized. If and when they do in Spanish-speaking countries, many of the

following terms will be replaced by others, or their negative associations will change

(some are already historical as regimes and police uniform colors have been replaced):aguacate (Colombia); azul (Spain, Mexico); azulejo (Maracaibo, Venezuela); cachaco

(Peru. This last term refers primarily to a member of the armed forces but is sometimes

used to refer to police officers as well. In many countries, the distinction between the

police and the armed forces is often hazy in any case.); cana (Bolivia, Paraguay,Uruguay, Argentina); cerdo (Puerto Rico, derogatory; probably from U.S. English “pig”);cuico (Mexico); cuilio (El Salvador, Honduras); chabolay (Paraguay, Guaraní term);

chafa (Honduras); chapa (Ecuador); chepo (Honduras); chonte (Guatemala, Honduras);

chota (El Salvador); chupa (Colombia); gandul (Puerto Rico); gris (Spain); jacho or jachu (Bolivia, derogatory; from Quechua or Aymara?); jocote cocido (Nicaragua);

macutero (Dominican Republic, derogatory); madero (Spain); marrón (Spain); milico

(Uruguay; often used as a general term to refer to both police and military); mordelón (Mexico, derogatory; the term derives from mordida, ‘bribe’ in Mexican Spanish, which

arguably is something a large percentage of police officers in most Spanish-speaking

countries accept or demand); paco (Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile);

pantanero (Maracaibo, Venezuela); perro (Spain?, Mexico?, Puerto Rico, derogatory); piricuaco (Nicaragua); picoleto (Spain); pitufo (Spain, Mexico?, Guatemala); polizonte

(Spain, Mexico); sapo (Colombia); tajashí or tajachí (Paraguay, Guaraní term);

tamarindo (Mexico); tecolote or teco (Mexico); tombo (Costa Rica, Venezuela,

Colombia, Ecuador, Peru); tongo (Panama); verde (Colombia); zorro gris (Paraguay; oneArgentine said this used to refer specifically to a member of the parking police).

The following terms are used informally in the sense of ‘the police’ (collectively):la cana (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina); la chota (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador); la

chonta (Guatemala); la jara (Cuba, Puerto Rico); la fiana (Cuba); el número

(Paraguay?); la pasma (Spain, especially during the Franco regime); la poli (Spain; is this

abbreviation for policía commonly used throughout the Spanish-speaking world?).prostitute (slang terms). The following terms (some more humorous, some more vulgar) have

been offered as rough equivalents of ‘whore’ and/or ‘hooker’: colla (Atlantic Coast

region, Colombia); cuarenta (Costa Rica); cuera (Puerto Rico); cuero (DominicanRepublic, Puerto Rico); cuña jecovai (Paraguay, Guaraní term); chuchuneca (Peru?);

fichera (Mexico, Venezuela); flauta (Bolivia?); fleje (Puerto Rico); fletera (Cuba); fufurufa (Colombia?); fulana (Spain, Cuba); furcia (Galicia, Spain); güila (Mexico);

jinetera (Cuba); loca (Bolivia?, Argentina?); mamabicho (Puerto Rico); ménade (Guatemala); patín (Chile); pepa or peperecha (Guatemala); perra (Panama, Venezuela,

Colombia, Ecuador, Peru; is this usage universal?); piruja (Mexico); resbalosa (Mexico,

Guatemala); sobrá (Puerto Rico; from sobrada); trotona (Spain); yira/shira or yiro/shiro



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(Argentina, Uruguay); zorra (Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic,

Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia; is this usage universal?).

pimp. The following terms have been offered: cabrón (Venezuela?, Colombia?, Ecuador?,

Peru?, Chile); cafiche (Peru, Uruguay?, Chile); caficho or cafishio or cafiso (Paraguay,Uruguay, Argentina?; from Italian?); cafiolo (Argentina, Uruguay); chivo (El Salvador?,

Costa Rica); chulo (Spain, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela,

Colombia); fiolo (Uruguay?); pachuco (Mexico?); padrote (Mexico); tío (Mexico?).Words for ‘madame’ (woman who runs a house of prostitution) that have been

offered are the following: doña (Mexico, Puerto Rico); madama (Puerto Rico); madam(e)

(Spain, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela); madrota (Mexico); maipriora or maipriola (Puerto Rico?); matrona (Guatemala, Panama, Cuba).

stingy. Agarrado, amarrado, apretado, codo, duro and roñoso appear to be universal informal

equivalents of tacaño, but the following terms are more regional: agarrete (El Salvador,

Bolivia); amarrete (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile; is thisusage universal?); amarro (Argentina); apretado (Chile); caleta (Venezuela?); catalán

(Spain; people from Cataluña are, deservedly or not, considered by many from other

regions of Spain to be stingy); comesolo (Dominican Republic?); coñete (Peru, Chile);

coño (Peru?, highland Ecuador); cuña (El Salvador?, Honduras); chucho (El Salvador); gaña (Cádiz, Spain?); garrapo (Barcelona, Spain?); jacateí or jacate- ŷ (Paraguay,

Guaraní term = mezquino; last syllable nasalized); yopí or yopĩ (Paraguay, Guaraní term,

with a nasalized i); judío (Spain?, Guatemala?, Peru?; is this usage universal?); maceta (Puerto Rico); machete (Uruguay); marro? (Mexico); micha or mitcha (Bolivia; Quechua

term used in highland Bolivian Spanish); mirado (Spain); pichicato (Honduras); pichirre

(Venezuela); pijotero (Argentina); pinche (Nicaragua, Costa Rica); rasco (Cádiz,

Spain?); rata (Spain, Uruguay, Argentina; term is común de dos); socado (Honduras?); samañocas (Bolivia?); ticuizo (El Salvador); truñuno (Colombia?); truñuño (Panama);

turco (Panama?, Venezuela; and elsewhere? Turco is widely used in Spanish America to

refer to people of Middle Eastern or Arab descent.); vasco (Argentina); zapatoca

(Santander, Colombia; this term is común de dos; Zapatoca is a town in the department ofSantander where people, deservedly or not, are considered to be stingy).

In addition, the following phrases meaning ‘stingy’ have been heard by peoplefrom the following countries: alejandro en puño (Nicaragua); baila la jota con los codos

(para no gastar los zapatos) (Spain); camina con los codos (Panama, Puerto Rico,

Venezuela; is this phrase universal?); calcañal de indígena and carne de callo (Cuba);

codito de oro (Argentina); del codo duro or no dobla el codo (Panama); devoto de lavirgen del codo (Panama); devoto de or (devoto a) la virgen del puño, de la virgen del

puño or de la cofradía del puño (Paraguay, Peru, Spain); de puño cerrado (Spain); es

como un azadón (sólo para dentro) (El Salvador); más agarrado que un tango (Spain);

más agarrado que un chotis en un ladrillo (Spain); más apretado que un pedo de mula

(Colombia); más duro que un mojón de guayaba (Puerto Rico); le dan en el codo ybrinca a la caja colombiana de ahorros (Colombia).




33

The hand signal or sign shown above has been found to be commonly used in all

Spanish-speaking countries to refer to someone who is ‘stingy’ with the exception ofSpain and, possibly, Chile. Is this sign regional or part of General Spanish?

Finally, people from the following regions or cities are stereotyped as beingstingy: Galicia and, especially, Cataluña (in Spain); Cáceres (in Extremadura, Spain);

Monterrey (in Mexico); Chalatenango? (in El Salvador); León? (in Nicaragua); Fajardo?

(in Puerto Rico); people from the highlands or Andean region in general (in Venezuela,Colombia and Ecuador); Arequipa (in Peru); Cochabamba (and also Sucre?) (in Bolivia).

stupid or ignorant. In what regions of each country are people stereotyped as being foolish and

ignorant (to the extent that jokes are often told that portray them as such)? The following places have been offered: Lepe (Spain); Pasto (Colombia); Pinar del Río (Cuba); Guairá

(Paraguay); Santiago del Estero (Argentina). What about foreigners? In which countries

are there particular foreign groups that are thought of us dumb, and who are they?

twin. Many Mexicans use cuate in the sense of gemelo or mellizo (in addition to its use in thesense of ‘friend,’ ‘buddy’) and Guatemalans use cuache in the sense of ‘twin’. Ar e there

other regional words for ‘twins’ in other countries? See parents (mom and dad) above.

NOTES

1. The author would like to thank Dasha Hlavenka for kindly providing the illustrations thatappear in this article, and Francisco González and Lucrecia Hug for editing earlier drafts and

making a number of valuable suggestions. In addition, he would like to express his appreciation

to Andrew Hurley and Leland Wright for going out of their way to put him in contact with many

informants/respondents for this study. Last but not least, he would like to thank all of the nativespeakers of Spanish who generously gave of their time to answer questions on usage.

2. For more information on the author’s views on language, dialects, lexicography, linguisticidentity and linguistics, see the following works:“Talking with Andre Moskowitz” by Kirk Anderson and Andre Moskowitz in The ATA

Chronicle (the monthly magazine of the American Translators Association), volumeXXVIII, number 10, October 1999, p. 61-63.

“Contribución al estudio del español ecuatoriano.” The author’s unpublished M.A. thesis.Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Florida. Gainesville,

Florida, United States. 1995.

REFERENCES

Chambers, Jack and Peter Trudgill. 1998. Dialectology. 2nd edition. Cambridge, England:Cambridge University Press.

Malkiel, Yakov. 1984. “A Linguist’s View of the Standardization of a Dialect” in The

Emergence of National Languages. Aldo Scaglione, ed. Ravenna, Italy: A. Longo

Editore.



Pickett, Joseph P., ed. 2000. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Boston, United States: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Real Academia Española. 1992. Diccionario de la Lengua Española. 21st Edition. Madrid,Spain: Espasa-Calpe, S.A.

Stephens, Thomas M. 1999. Dictionary of Latin American Racial and Ethnic Terminology. 2ndedition. Gainesville, Florida, United States: University Press of Florida.

Documents

2001_ATA Annual Conf Proceedings_Folks (People Related Terminology)_Moskowitz