guagua

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AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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I know what it means but how did it originate and is it used in any other Spanish speaking country besides the DR?

For those that don't know, it's a small type van used as a bus. I've heard people refer to the big carebi tour bus as a "gua gua" as well.
 

juancarlos

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Sep 28, 2003
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No one really knows how it originated. I've read different versions. It is spelled guagua, together. It is the popular word for bus in Cuba, DR, PR and Spain's Canary Islands. Once I read that it developed from the English word wagon, and because people could not pronounce it, they said guagua. Nobody knows for sure.
 

ricktoronto

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Jan 9, 2002
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From the sound it makes while accelerating. Motoconchos were called brapppppppppppppppppppp!!!! 's for a while.
 

Marianopolita

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Dec 26, 2003
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Most likely has an indigenous origin (not 100% sure)

Guagua has different meanings throughout the Spanish speaking world. For example in some South American countries specifically Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile it means baby.


LDG.
 
Apr 26, 2002
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Lesley D said:
Guagua has different meanings throughout the Spanish speaking world. For example in some South American countries specifically Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile it means baby.
I was always taught that it is an onomatopoeia -- like a "taptap" in Haiti -- guagua being the sound of a twice-blown horn. This has been debated before here on DR1, with no definitive answer provided as to date.

Hey, Rob and Dolores, this is post 1,500 for me. When do I get my gold watch? If not for 1,500 posts, then how about for spelling onomatopoeia correctly?
 

Marianopolita

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Dec 26, 2003
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The RAE gives the South American origin

Porfio_Rubirosa,

With languages I never speculate. I just checked the RAE and the South American origin is from quechua which is the indigenous language of Peru.

Here it is:

guagua(2).
(Del quechua w?wa).
1. f. ?. Andes. Ni?o de pecho. En Ecuador, u. c. com.


LDG.

Porfio_Rubirosa said:
I was always taught that it is an onomatopoeia -- like a "taptap" in Haiti -- guagua being the sound of a twice-blown horn. This has been debated before here on DR1, with no definitive answer provided as to date.

Hey, Rob and Dolores, this is post 1,500 for me. When do I get my gold watch? If not for 1,500 posts, then how about for spelling onomatopoeia correctly?
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Porfi, I was going to make that very point but I wasn't sure of the spelling and was too lazy to double-check. Surely in the case of the Caribbean bus as well as the Andean baby the word is onomatopoeic?
 
Apr 26, 2002
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Lesley D said:
Porfio_Rubirosa,

With languages I never speculate. I just checked the RAE and the South American origin is from quechua which is the indigenous language of Peru.

Here it is:

guagua(2).
(Del quechua w?wa).
1. f. ?. Andes. Ni?o de pecho. En Ecuador, u. c. com.
Speculate, no. Paint with too broad a brush, perhaps. I would say still no definitive answer for the caribbean bus. It makes no sense to call a bus a "ni?o de pecho", unless the RAE can provide further explanation. Odd that the RAE ignores the caribbean useage origin entirely, don't you think? It sort of confirms the anti-caribbean bias that I see in your posts and have always suspected of the RAE. Seems quite possible that the andean word and the caribbean word are not just of different meaning, but of different origin as well.

For example, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, a "gyro" is an abbreviation for a "gyroscope". Yet every American knows that a "gyro" is a greek sandwich of shaved lamb or beef served with onions and yogurt sauce in pita bread. When's that greek guy who posted going to open his restaurant, anyway?
 
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Mr_DR

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May 12, 2002
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Anna Coniglio said:
I know what it means but how did it originate and is it used in any other Spanish speaking country besides the DR?

For those that don't know, it's a small type van used as a bus. I've heard people refer to the big carebi tour bus as a "gua gua" as well.
What I heard was that it was the name the Taino Indians used to call the bigger canoes that was used as a form of transportation to transfer people from one village to another.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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Porfio_Rubirosa,

I think the anti-caribbean bias comment is uncalled for. Whatever you detect from my posts is your issue not mine because I know quite the opposite about myself and that's not the point here so please leave it at that. My point is however, which I was trying to deduce is the very fact that the SA origin is from quecha (please refer to the title of my previous post) which is as I suspected different from the Caribbean origin and can be found just with a little more research. I am curious to know the Caribbean origin but was surprised that it was not in the few dictionaries I quickly researched. The RAE happened to reference the SA origin. Bias maybe on their part not on mine. Remember the original question by Anna was "is the word used in any other country" and I interpreted that as with or without the same meaning.

LDG.

Porfio_Rubirosa said:
Odd that the RAE ignores the caribbean useage origin entirely, don't you think? It sort of confirms the anti-caribbean bias that I see in your posts and have always suspected of the RAE. Seems quite possible that the andean word and the caribbean word are not just of different meaning, but of different origin as well.

For example, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, a "gyro" is an abbreviation for a "gyroscope". Yet every American knows that a "gyro" is a greek sandwich of shaved lamb or beef served with onions and yogurt sauce in pita bread. When's that greek guy who posted going to open his restaurant, anyway?
 
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AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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Can we please keep the personal comments our of this forum, please!

State your interpetation of a word without getting into huge debates about it.

Thanks
 

mkohn

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Jan 1, 2002
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If you've ever ridden on one, you might just feel like a "Ni?o de pecho" when if you placed a sheet of paper between yourself and the person next to you - it wouldn't fall to the floor ..... LOL
abul
mkohn
 

Mirador

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Apr 15, 2004
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Ta?no

Mayan?, guagu? areit? ocam? (Quiet, my baby, listen to the song)*



*(a far cry from: 'hey brotha, here come da bus')
 

Stodgord

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Nov 19, 2004
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La voladora

La voladora is the name given to minibuses, because they are jam packed and ride very fast. Have any of you have had the "voladora" experience.
 

stewart

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Mar 1, 2004
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Stodgord said:
La voladora is the name given to minibuses, because they are jam packed and ride very fast. Have any of you have had the "voladora" experience.

I have spent many miles on the voladoras. I love it. My understanding is that they are not only the mini-buses. But all the buses that make frequent stops or pick people up on the road side.
 

Stodgord

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Nov 19, 2004
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stewart said:
I have spent many miles on the voladoras. I love it. My understanding is that they are not only the mini-buses. But all the buses that make frequent stops or pick people up on the road side.


Actually, I should have said mini-vans. Mini-vans picking up people along a route were first nicknamed voladoras but the name probably migrated to other vehicles of mass transport.
 
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