llamar pa’ atras
v.— «The phone rings inconveniently and, with an English idiom, you promise to call back. “Back” in English is not just the opposite of front, it also connotes an opposite reaction in a way that makes words like “backlash” work. The Spanish word for back, atras, doesn’t have that secondary meeting. If you translate it directly in a usage like “call back,” the result is Spanish gibberish. But it happens. And when Spanglish speakers issue a baffling promise to llamar pa’ atras (“to call in the back”), they move Spanish words to an exclusive Spanglish understanding.» —“Is this our creole?” by Rick Stone Sun-Sentinel (Florida) Dec. 26, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Julie in Fort Pierce, Florida, recalls that on sweltering days her mother would declare the weather was hotter than Billy Blue Blazes! The word blazes is a euphemism for “hell,” as in hot as blazes. The blue in blue blazes has long been used as an...
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a word-pecker is “a person who trifles or plays with, or quibbles over, words.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word-Peckers” I always love it when I’m looking through the dictionary and...