Our conversation about slang terms for traveling on foot, such as going with Pat and Charlie, inspired Kevin in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to share some more he learned from his wife Arely, who is from Honduras. There voy al puro once, literally means “I’m just going 11,” and suggests that the speaker will go on foot because of the numeral’s resemblance to a pair of legs. Voy a puro pincel is also used, a pincel being a very fine paintbrush, indicating that, just as painting with a tiny brush takes a long time, traveling a puro pincel will take a long time as well. This is part of a complete episode.
Why do some Spanish speakers use adaptations of certain English terms when there’s already a perfectly good word for the same thing in Spanish? Sometimes the result is called “Spanglish.” For example, Spanish cuentas means “bills,”...
We’ve previously discussed when pigs fly and other idioms expressing profound skepticism that something will occur. That prompted an email from Guillermo in Tucson, Arizona, who shared a Spanish phrase that conveys a similar idea: cuando la...
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