Free Spanish Lesson 56. Visita personal – Part II

Vocabulary For the Newsletter – Vocabulario para el boletín

mencioné – I mentioned

la semana pasada – last week

la oportunidad – the opportunity

miles – thousands

gente – people

hogares – homes

interesante – interesting

una cosa – one thing

diferente – different

hombres – men

esposas – wives

puerta – door

esposos – husbands

un mes – a month

aquí – here

amigos – friends

cultura – culture

pueblos – poor small cities

dinero – money

comida – food

persona – person

hace unos meses – a few months ago

años – years

¡Te has engordado! – You have gained weight!

delgado – skinny

diferencias culturales – cultural differences

probablemente – probably

As I mencioné la semana pasada, when I lived in Latin America, I had la oportunidad to visit literally miles of gente in their hogares. As a result, I learned some pretty interesante and fun cultural tidbits while visiting gente.

Una cosa that really shocked me and still seems very diferente was how a lot of hombres referred to their esposas and vice-versa. If an hombre would answer the puerta and we wanted to visit with both him and his esposa, he would usually yell something like “¡Ven acá gorda!”, which meant “Come here ‘chubby’ or ‘overweight'”. This really shocked and surprised me. Esposas would also talk this way to their esposos.

In the United States, if I called my esposa “gorda”, I would probably have to sleep on the couch for at least un mes! It is something that culturally we just don’t do aquí in the U.S.

Many native Spanish speakers actually nickname their amigos “gordo”. As I began to be more integrated into the cultura, I started to realize that the names “gordo” and “gorda” weren’t as insulting as I had initially thought. In many of the pueblos, when the gente earned enough dinero to buy better comida, they would usually start to gain a little weight and become a little “gordo”.

So, I guess in a round about way, being called “gordo” or “gorda” is a compliment which means that the persona has enough dinero to buy good comida and become “gordo” or “gorda”.

Hace unos meses, some Latin American amigos I hadn’t seen for años came to visit me here is the U.S. The first thing they said to me, with a surprised tone, was “¡Te has engordado!”. Even though I know the cultura well, I still couldn’t help but get a little self conscious. And – just so you know, I am hardly “gordo” (at least I don’t think I am – I ride my bike about 40-60 miles a week). I may have filled in a little but I don’t think I’m real “gordo”. I was just super delgado when I had known them years before.

Word to the wise: Even though people within the Latin culture call each other “gordo” and “gorda”, I would still avoid using those names just to make sure people don’t get offended.

Moral of the historia: Diferencias culturales are real! If you ever go to Latin America and someone happens to call you “gordo” or “gorda”, don’t get offended, just realize that it is probablemente a sort of compliment!

¡Hasta luego! (“Until later”)

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Written by David S. Clark President/Director, U.S. Institute of Languages. Copyright © 1999-2010 US Institute of Languages All rights reserved.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.