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william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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Inadvertently, I dropped my cell phone into my cooler.

Used the blow dryer, stuffed it in rice for the night - todo.

The speaker came back but the microphone seems to be dead.

Naturally, most Dominicans have had more serious phone issues.
My main man advised that the microphone 'no regresa'...

The 'Speaker' option works ... my only source of communication.

After lengthy chats with many... the consensus was i need an 'ands fre'.

Given my high level of Spanish and my innate language skills, I glommed onto the meaning quickly.

Easy as pie, I walked in to the local CLARO store and pregunta'd 'un ands fre'

Presto.... 300 pesos later I was back in action.

Spanish = ands fre
English = hands free

What is hard about that?

Spanish made easy, by WW

other similarities

el trimmer............ make your own list..... it's a long one

My favorite id the Fr-Cdns who Francify everything


France--- stop signs are STOP... Quebec Arret
France ... un hot dog...... Quebec, un chien chaud
 
D

Derfish

Gold
Jan 7, 2016
4,441
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0
Stop signs here say pare which means stand or stop, in Mexico at one time they all said Alto which would mean Halt, in Panama many of them say Pare, but many say Stop and if one gets close enuff one can see that they were taken off American school buses and still have the attendant wiring on them from that.
Der Fish
 
Xavier_Onassis

Xavier_Onassis

Gold
Aug 6, 2006
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I discovered that if I ask for "cinta para enmascarar" I get a blank stare, but every one in la ferreteria understands "makeen tep".

There is no label on the masking tape that gives the English words. Cinta para mascar would be "chewing tape". The dictionary gives the term "cinta adhesiva" but that would be what you would use for a bandage.

I recall when I first went to Mexico, I was baffled by the woman at the pension taliking about "el Boyle" which turned out to be el calentador de agua. The boiler.
 
Ecoman1949

Ecoman1949

Born to Ride.
Oct 17, 2015
2,807
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william webster said:
Inadvertently, I dropped my cell phone into my cooler.

Used the blow dryer, stuffed it in rice for the night - todo.

The speaker came back but the microphone seems to be dead.

Naturally, most Dominicans have had more serious phone issues.
My main man advised that the microphone 'no regresa'...

The 'Speaker' option works ... my only source of communication.

After lengthy chats with many... the consensus was i need an 'ands fre'.

Given my high level of Spanish and my innate language skills, I glommed onto the meaning quickly.

Easy as pie, I walked in to the local CLARO store and pregunta'd 'un ands fre'

Presto.... 300 pesos later I was back in action.

Spanish = ands fre
English = hands free

What is hard about that?

Spanish made easy, by WW

other similarities

el trimmer............ make your own list..... it's a long one

My favorite id the Fr-Cdns who Francify everything


France--- stop signs are STOP... Quebec Arret
France ... un hot dog...... Quebec, un chien chaud
Click to expand...

Bill,
The provincial language laws in Quebec dictate that all signs are in French. Been a sore point for years with English speaking Quebecers and the immigrants there. Nothing in comparison to the words we use to describe things in Newfoundland. Joey Smallwood, our former Premier actually produced a book of NL language. It's a mixture of English, Irish, French with a smattering of Portuguese. Example: A "scuff", is a local dance in the town hall. A"scoff" is a big meal usually taken before the scuff.
 
W

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,330
113
To keep things RD & Spanish oriented here, I was hoping to see a list of 'English cross-over to' Spanish words.

My 'andsfre' and el trimmer are two.

Another came to me last night.
My air conditioning in the car wasn't working, no blower.
This was a few years ago - I was determined to try speaking Spanish , so I researched words.
Ventiladora seemed right.

I went to an English speaking mechanic (NYState license) with my problem.
I spoke Spanish, he responded in English.... perfect!!

I told him my ventiladora was broken.
He was shocked - the motor must be overheating - How'd you get here?

The word I could not find?
El Blower........

Just shoot me..... I switched to English and we fixed it.

Life's funny moments.............hahaha

Don't forget... in bilingual Canada, it's illegal to post an English sign in Quebec on your business
I guess that's what you're saying
 
Xavier_Onassis

Xavier_Onassis

Gold
Aug 6, 2006
8,775
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I read a very humorous article once about some fellow named Angus in Montreal who complained about how he was forced to mention the items he sold in larger type in French than in English.
And he sold Tartans, kilts and sporrans.
Comme on dit "sporran" en fran?ais?
 
D

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
hands free is manos libre in spanish, in reality. that badly mispronounced english version is common in DR does not surprise me but you would have achieved the same result using manos libre term.
 
W

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,330
113
There are plenty of them... not just in Spanish or here...

Many countries 'Englify' words all the time....

as I said earlier for my blower.... el blower was the only word they would accept for the part needed.

I'm sure there are plenty more examples
 
M

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
4,821
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william webster said:
There are plenty of them... not just in Spanish or here...

Many countries 'Englify' words all the ti[/I]me....

as I said earlier for my blower.... el blower was the only word they would accept for the part needed.

I'm sure there are plenty more examples
Click to expand...

A lot of names of car parts in the DR are phonetically mispronounced English words. However, not to say the same words are used all over the Spanish-speaking world. For DR purposes, if you need to know these englified versions as you call it that's fine (and it's a matter of survival I guess) but if the Spanish word exists you might as well learn the correct word.

In some cases there are many ways to say a word and it just depends on where you are in the Spanish-speaking world and the US. For example- the word for tire in Spanish varies by location but for me it's llanta, in Miami it's goma (and others parts of Latin America) and in Spain I believe neum?tico is the standard. I have yet to hear an English version of the word.


-MP.
 
D

Derfish

Gold
Jan 7, 2016
4,441
2
0
Marianopolita said:
A lot of names of car parts in the DR are phonetically mispronounced English words. However, not to say the same words are used all over the Spanish-speaking world. For DR purposes, if you need to know these englified versions as you call it that's fine (and it's a matter of survival I guess) but if the Spanish word exists you might as well learn the correct word.

In some cases there are many ways to say a word and it just depends on where you are in the Spanish-speaking world and the US. For example- the word for tire in Spanish varies by location but for me it's llanta, in Miami it's goma (and others parts of Latin America) and in Spain I believe neum?tico is the standard. I have yet to hear an English version of the word.


-MP.
Click to expand...

EL tubo is what is actually named the neumatico. Then there is the mofle aka la silenciadora. I have always found the use of the word la brucha or el broche for Brush as in paint brush.
Der Fish
 
T

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
1,366
614
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I still giggle when people talk about car bumpers which seem to be pronounced like "Bom-pair". And I always used to call a beach bed a Tumbona, but have been told that several times that the correct word in DR is a Chaylong which I guess comes from the French chaise-longue, (even though they're not a chaise longue). The other one which I can't understand is how people seem to pronounce "gig" as in internet speeds, 10Gb which we would say "Ten Gig" is pronounced diez giga, but they say it like "jigga" which doesn't make sense at all.
 
K

Kipling333

Bronze
Jan 12, 2010
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I am going to check out those dates in english but here in spanish they use a contortion of the spanish word .. chequeo ..which should be used as quiero un chequeo to the doctor or to the car mecanic but here it is a verb como yo chequeout
 
Xavier_Onassis

Xavier_Onassis

Gold
Aug 6, 2006
8,775
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la brocha is what you call a house painting brush. I think that it and the English word are both related to the French.
A paintbrush used to do detail work of and artistic sort is a pincel. But you lay the basic white down with a brocha gorda. A mofle is not a muffler.
a muffler is a silenchadora, and a tailpipe (from the manifold to the silenciadora) is called a mofle. The pipe that goes from the silenciadora to the end of the car is an escape.

The kind of muffler that keeps your neck warm is a bufanda.
 
W

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,330
113
the 'S' is always a good one...

snack, is an esnack.....
understandable really, an 'S' is an 'es'..... they say every letter

another cross-over word
a car bushing.... un bushing in these Spanish parts
 
T

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
1,366
614
113
william webster said:
the 'S' is always a good one...

snack, is an esnack.....
understandable really, an 'S' is an 'es'..... they say every letter

another cross-over word
a car bushing.... un bushing in these Spanish parts
Click to expand...

I used to bank with Scotiabank and someone had obviously told the staff that it was not Escotiabank. Whenever they answered the phone, you saw them physically wincing as they tried to say it without the es...
 
M

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
4,821
766
113
TropicalPaul said:
I still giggle when people talk about car bumpers which seem to be pronounced like "Bom-pair". And I always used to call a beach bed a Tumbona, but have been told that several times that the correct word in DR is a Chaylong which I guess comes from the French chaise-longue, (even though they're not a chaise longue). The other one which I can't understand is how people seem to pronounce "gig" as in internet speeds, 10Gb which we would say "Ten Gig" is pronounced diez giga, but they say it like "jigga" which doesn't make sense at all.
Click to expand...

If you consider the Spanish alphabet and the phonetic sound of /g/ and /j/ the way you are hearing it pronounced in Spanish is correct according to the Spanish phonetic sound of the soft /g/ (meaning /g/ followed by /i/ or /e/). Say general in Spanish and then say gigga. They are right.

TropicalPaul said:
I used to bank with Scotiabank and someone had obviously told the staff that it was not Escotiabank. Whenever they answered the phone, you saw them physically wincing as they tried to say it without the es...
Click to expand...

Uni-lingual Spanish speakers can't naturally say consonant clusters so the /e/ is instinctively added to break it up. It's not a problem for bilingual English/ Spanish speakers though (maybe for Spanish/English depending on their command). Therefore, you always hear words like eski, espeak, espanish, estep etc.


-MP.
 
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