Moreno/a in English

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Mr.Mark

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This is for those of you that have come to distinguish the difference between a morena from Spain -or Argentina- and a morena from the DR. I've read that it's not correct to translate morena as "brunette", since morenas are not considered white when brunettes are.

I have a friend, and she looks like Pocahontas. Her skin colour is like that of Pocahontas -you know, a Disney character-. She's not black, she has long straight hair, you could say her skin colour is like that of people from Morocco -caramel coloured skin- and she has soft facial features. To be more specific, she's a morena clara. We also have trigue?as... I'm confused.

Can someone help me with this nomenclature?
 

Stodgord

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Nov 19, 2004
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Mr.Mark said:
This is for those of you that have come to distinguish the difference between a morena from Spain -or Argentina- and a morena from the DR. I've read that it's not correct to translate morena as "brunette", since morenas are not considered white when brunettes are.

I have a friend, and she looks like Pocahontas. Her skin colour is like that of Pocahontas -you know, a Disney character-. She's not black, she has long straight hair, you could say her skin colour is like that of people from Morocco -caramel coloured skin- and she has soft facial features. To be more specific, she's a morena clara. We also have trigue?as... I'm confused.

Can someone help me with this nomenclature?


Dominicans in the US call Black Americans "morenos". Your friend in the DR, would be "india" colored. Remember, in the US she would be considered "Black" no matter what. Perhaps the word in English for Moreno is Brown.
 
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Mr.Mark

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Stodgord said:
Dominicans in the US call Black Americans "morenos". Your friend in the DR, would be "india" colored. Remember, in the US she would be considered "Black" no matter what. Perhaps the word in English for Moreno is Brown.

I don't think she would be considered black, I think you'll have to see her -she's such a cutie!-. I'm Dominican, I know what I'm saying when I say she's morena or india, my problem comes when trying to translate that into English.

Thanks, man.
 
May 31, 2005
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Tanned or Caramel. And just for the record, Moroccans are like Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans, in the sense that their skin comes in all shades of color.
 

Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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Dark-haired

Mr.Mark said:
I don't think she would be considered black, I think you'll have to see her -she's such a cutie!-. I'm Dominican, I know what I'm saying when I say she's morena or india, my problem comes when trying to translate that into English.

Thanks, man.
The word morena is correctly used as dark-haired, if she is indian than she is indian, mullatoes in the US are considered black no matter how light they are or long their hair is. Where ever she is from is what her culture will refer to her as. They are tons of Pocohantas looking morenas in the US.
 
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Mr.Mark

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Dragonfly32837 said:
Tanned or Caramel. And just for the record, Moroccans are like Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans, in the sense that their skin comes in all shades of color.

Of course Moroccans have multiple skin color gradients, but I was refering to the most common sking color, which is like that of wheat or a bit like caramel -in that sense, I look more Moroccan than her since my skin color is more common in Morocco-. My friend is Dominican and going 4 generations back all her ancestors are Dominican too. Caramel would describe her skin color, but it's not useful to use as an epithet for all her body features. Her hair is black and straight and long.

Gracias!
 
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Mr.Mark

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Ricardo900 said:
The word morena is correctly used as dark-haired, if she is indian than she is indian, mullatoes in the US are considered black no matter how light they are or long their hair is. Where ever she is from is what her culture will refer to her as. They are tons of Pocohantas looking morenas in the US.

She's not indigenous, she's from the DR and remember that aborigines disappeared from here. Morena in the Dominican Republic is not only for dark-haired people, in Spain it is, but not in the DR (if you see a white woman with black hair here she's not considered morena).
 
May 31, 2005
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Mr.Mark said:
Of course Moroccans have multiple skin color gradients, but I was refering to the most common sking color, which is like that of wheat or a bit like caramel -in that sense, I look more Moroccan than her since my skin color is more common in Morocco-. My friend is Dominican and going 4 generations back all her ancestors are Dominican too. Caramel would describe her skin color, but it's not useful to use as an epithet for all her body features. Her hair is black and straight and long.

Gracias!
Then I would say that she is a caramel colored Dominican woman. I don't think that there is a word to say it in english. I guess you would just describe it. What is the point of this anyway?
 
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Mr.Mark

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Como que "what is the point...?"

Dragonfly32837 said:
Then I would say that she is a caramel colored Dominican woman. I don't think that there is a word to say it in english. I guess you would just describe it. What is the point of this anyway?

The point, obviously, is that I have some curiosity about something and I'm asking for help just like all people here do. Why do you ask me what's the point? A friend asked me how to describe this morena thing in English and I'm looking for some insight, that's all.
 
May 31, 2005
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Mr.Mark said:
A friend asked me how to describe this morena thing in English and I'm looking for some insight, that's all.

This is all that you needed to say. You did not have to get an attitude about it. I am trying to answer your question just like everyone else on here too. At least I am taking my time to answer your post. I will not waste my time anymore. :tired: Caramba!
 
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Mr.Mark

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Dragonfly32837 said:
This is all that you needed to say. You did not have to get an attitude about it. I am trying to answer your question just like everyone else on here too. At least I am taking my time to answer your post. I will not waste my time anymore. :tired: Caramba!

I don't expect you to reply, but I believe the way you asked that question was rude and I took it as if you were implying that what I was saying was pointless. I might be wrong, maybe that wasn't your intention, but the way you asked that was not the most polite. Sorry for wasting your time.
 

AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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Hello this is the Spanish forum. Let's not do the usual please.

I honestly don't think there is one word translation for Morena/moreno so maybe you'll have to teach your friends what it means so you can adopt this into the English language.
 

mkohn

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Jan 1, 2002
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Morena is best understood as "black."
Morena clara would be a light skinned black person.
I think it comes from the Moors who were dark skinned and exotic to the Spaniards.
Morena oscura would be a dark skinned black person.
Good luck on the description.
mkohn
 

juancarlos

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Sep 28, 2003
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The word morena/moreno means different things to people in different countries. In Spain and other countries ir refers not only to black-haired people, but also to people whose skin color is darker. Like gypsies and many non-gypsy Spaniards as well. In other countries it is a "polite" way to refer to blacks. It all depends. Sometimes the word simply indicates actual skin coloring, without any reference to race. A dark-skinned Cauacasoid person would be called moreno, in this case it has nothing to do with blacks. In Cuba, moreno usually refers to people of obvious black African ancestry.

Now, this is a Spanish language forum, let's not turn it into another racial classifications debate.

The thing is that the way you use this word depends on the context of your conversation and the country where you live. That's all. So, the English tranlation would depend on the intended meaning of this word when it was used in Spanish.
 
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