Miami Spanish

M

Marianopolita

Guest
Derfish said:
Another thread we talked about the term Gringo, but in Colombia I was often called Mono which is the general Spanish word for monkey, but there in Colombia they call a monkey a mico. And how did amfitheatro get to be the word for morgue anyhow?
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Yes, mono in general terms is what Colombians call someone who is rubio, piel blanca or a foreigner. Correct mico is monkey in Colombia.

From my understanding anfiteatro is an old term for morgue going really far back in time. The word has been kept in some Spanish-speaking countries but the standard word is morgue. Anfiteatro goes as far back to the old cities in the New World time frame.


Derfish it sounds like your ex-wife was paisa or from the interior of Colombia. Am I correct?



-MP.
 
D

Derfish

Guest
Marianopolita said:
Yes, mono in general terms is what Colombians call someone who is rubio, piel blanca or a foreigner. Correct mico is monkey in Colombia.

From my understanding anfiteatro is an old term for morgue going really far back in time. The word has been kept in some Spanish-speaking countries but the standard word is morgue. Anfiteatro goes as far back to the old cities in the New World time frame.


Derfish it sounds like your ex-wife was paisa or from the interior of Colombia. Am I correct?



-MP.
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Yes, born a long time ago in other times. Her mother was a servant girl in rich homes and each time she got prgnant was fired. 4 kids by 4 different men. But Paisa, yes, Rio Negro area.
 
M

Marianopolita

Guest
Derfish said:
Yes, born a long time ago in other times. Her mother was a servant girl in rich homes and each time she got prgnant was fired. 4 kids by 4 different men. But Paisa, yes, Rio Negro area.
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Listo! Thanks for confirming. Just with the few words and phrases you mentioned from her I sensed that. So Colombian to me and all things paisa.




-MP.
 
M

Marianopolita

Guest
In Miami and possibly others areas where English and Spanish are spoken I often hear the incorrect usage of the word línea meaning line but not a line as in a queue when you stand at the bank or grocery store. The correct words for queue as in to stand in line are:


Fila

Cola- a little more colloquial specifically Cuba.

But línea that is a line you draw on paper. However, in Miami you will hear estaba esperando en la línea. Really? I think that is totally from the English influence. Definitely something I don’t expect to hear in a Spanish-speaking country.


I found a blog article by a journalist from Madrid. She talks about her experience with Spanish in Miami and she said she found it harder to understand people compared to English because of the diversity of Spanish from so many Latin American countries. Honestly, I find that hard to believe. In general, even with the vocabulary, accent differences and regionalisms you can understand and speak just fine in Miami but this journalist has a different experience and perspective.


Nice article!


https://wsimag.com/es/cultura/20097-como-hablar-espanol-en-miami


-MP.
 
D

Derfish

Guest
Marianopolita said:
In Miami and possibly others areas where English and Spanish are spoken I often hear the incorrect usage of the word línea meaning line but not a line as in a queue when you stand at the bank or grocery store. The correct words for queue as in to stand in line are:


Fila

Cola- a little more colloquial specifically Cuba.

But línea that is a line you draw on paper. However, in Miami you will hear estaba esperando en la línea. Really? I think that is totally from the English influence. Definitely something I don’t expect to hear in a Spanish-speaking country.


I found a blog article by a journalist from Madrid. She talks about her experience with Spanish in Miami and she said she found it harder to understand people compared to English because of the diversity of Spanish from so many Latin American countries. Honestly, I find that hard to believe. In general, even with the vocabulary, accent differences and regionalisms you can understand and speak just fine in Miami but this journalist has a different experience and perspective.


Nice article!


https://wsimag.com/es/cultura/20097-como-hablar-espanol-en-miami


-MP.
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I have been told by a Quebecker that she have found it easier to speak to a francophone from Paris in English than in French due to their divergent accents. Of course it depends how much English each knows. In the Blog she mentioned living in Michigan previously so we don't know how strong her base in English was.
 
M

Marianopolita

Guest
Derfish said:
I have been told by a Quebecker that she have found it easier to speak to a francophone from Paris in English than in French due to their divergent accents. Of course it depends how much English each knows. In the Blog she mentioned living in Michigan previously so we don't know how strong her base in English was.
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What I found interesting is the Spanish aspect not the English. I still find it very surprising the degree of difficulty she had with Spanish in Miami. I can understand how the mixing of the English words would throw her off and some of the blunders in Spanish like what I mentioned in my post above the difference between fila and línea. However, the level of difficulty that she mentions seems odd since she is a native Spanish speaker.

This is all about exposure. The more exposure you have to various accents in Spanish the easier it becomes if a person is having difficulty understanding. Some are more challenging than others but it seems like this journalist had very little or no exposure to Latin American Spanish prior to her trip to Miami.


-MP.
 
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B

bob saunders

Guest
My Dominican wife, and my Cuban SIL understand each other regardless of the little difference and the same with my Mexican aunt. Our friends from Costa Rica have quite different slang but you caught onto it quickly.
 
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M

Marianopolita

Guest
bob saunders said:
My Dominican wife, and my Cuban SIL understand each other regardless of the little difference and the same with my Mexican aunt. Our friends from Costa Rica have quite different slang but you caught onto it quickly.
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Of course. It is the same language. You will have differences but considering how vast Spanish is it is quite a unified language. As well, there is not that much difference between Cuban and Dominican Spanish.

Spanish speakers understand each other. This Madrileña in the blog really surprises me. I think Miami is a good opportunity to get full exposure to Latin American Spanish and the bonus is you get the richness of the Spanish-speaking world all in one city regardless of the blunders and Spanglish.


-MP.
 
M

Marianopolita

Guest
Another expression I hear a lot in Miami that is totally incorrect in Spanish but I don’t think is limited to Miami but it is the only place where I hear it so far is de gratis. This is not correct. In Spanish, the expression is gratis no de in front OR de balde which means free or free of charge.


To support what I am saying:


https://www.metro.pr/pr/blogs/2013/09/08/nada-gratis-espanol.html

https://www.fundeu.es/noticia/no-usen-de-gratis-6054/


I tend to use gratis however, certainly understand if someone says to me de balde.


-MP.
 
D

Derfish

Guest
Marianopolita said:
Another expression I hear a lot in Miami that is totally incorrect in Spanish but I don’t think is limited to Miami but it is the only place where I hear it so far is de gratis. This is not correct. In Spanish, the expression is gratis no de in front OR de balde which means free or free of charge.


To support what I am saying:


https://www.metro.pr/pr/blogs/2013/09/08/nada-gratis-espanol.html

https://www.fundeu.es/noticia/no-usen-de-gratis-6054/


I tend to use gratis however, certainly understand if someone says to me de balde.


-MP.
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In Miami some will say libre instead of gratis. As in I got 500 minutes libre on my phone. Or desert is libre if you buy a meal at that restaurant. I never coudl abide it myself.
Derfish
 
M

Marianopolita

Guest
bob saunders said:
My Dominican wife, and my Cuban SIL understand each other regardless of the little difference and the same with my Mexican aunt. Our friends from Costa Rica have quite different slang but you caught onto it quickly.
Click to expand...


I just read your post again and wanted to comment on Costa Rican slang. For me it is out of this world and has no relation to anything I have heard in the in the Spanish-speaking world. Usually, you can make a connection with other slang in the region but not Costa Rican slang. Even the word for coffee surprised me. Yodo for a cup of coffee. Jeez.

Tuanis ese mae after a while one can catch on in conversation and through repetition. Pura vida. Unique to Costa Rica. Dar pelota this means to pay attention. You have to live in Costa Rica to know that. Even the word hangover which really varies in the Spanish-speaking world. In Costa Rica it is tener una goma but goma has its own meaning too.


Spanish- what a beautiful language!




-MP.
 
M

Marianopolita

Guest
Derfish said:
In Miami some will say libre instead of gratis. As in I got 500 minutes libre on my phone. Or desert is libre if you buy a meal at that restaurant. I never coudl abide it myself.
Derfish
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Interesting and reading your examples the usage of libre to mean free is less common in one of them. For example, to have free minutes on your phone meaning remaining time to be used I agree with libre in that context. However, in your second example, it is less common. If the dessert is free of charge then it is gratis in my experience but it could be libre. These are good examples for grammarians, educators, purists etc it reflects how the language is used differently by a speech population due to exterior influences.


-MP.
 
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M

Marianopolita

Guest
I am listening to a radio station from Miami while I work and they are giving away tickets for an upcoming concert. The radio hostess/ DJ said: Tienes muchos biles. No puedes comprar las entradas para el concierto gana a la 1:25pm llama al número xxx.


Biles? Really for bills? Imagine those listening from a Spanish-speaking country that don’t know a word of English. They will not understand why she said biles. Miami Spanish is truly a language of its own although what I do like is if you speak pure Spanish no one is upset. Sometimes I think people are surprised. Not the older generation though because they tend not to use these invented words as much.



-MP.
 
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