Notas sobre el vocabulario

Capítulo uno:

This is an excellent vocab list because these are all words that people really do use in everyday conversation. However, many of them have meanings that are a little too complicated to explain with a one-word translation. Here are some notes to help you use these a little more precisely:

Chistoso/a—you may also know the word "gracioso/a." That's fine; it's a synonym.

Chulo/a—Your book translates this as "cool." A better translation might be "nifty" or "snazzy" (except that no one says "nifty" anymore, while "chulo" is alive and well.) One special note: when applied to people, "chulo" implies physically attractive as well as having a good personality. While your average straight college guy might describe his roomate as "cool," he probably wouldn't use "chulo" in the same context. Women can and do use "chula" to describe other women, though. It's sort of like the word "cute."

Just to make it extra complicated, it can also be used as an insult for someone (mainly men) who thinks he's really cool, especially someone who's too concerned with dressing just right, having the "right" car, hair, etc….

Culto/educado—The book gives you "culto" so you won't misuse "educado." The verb "educar" and everything related to it refers to bringing up a child, not to instilling him/her with book knowledge. Ser educado means to have good manners or to be "well brought up." The adjective "maleducado" means rude, and is a criticism of the person's background as well as his/her actions. (You may have run across "malcriado." It's a synonym to maleducado—criar a un niño means to raise him.)

To say that someone is very educated, you can use "culto/a," but it means a little more; it implies the same as "cultured" in English. Besides have gone to school for a long time, a person who is "culta" knows about art and literature and how to behave in a museum. If you happen to know someone who has several college degrees but is still kind of rough around the edges, you might say s/he "es muy informado/a."

Cualidades negativas:

Estúpido, bruto, tonto—That list is in descending order of offensiveness. This is important! "Stupid" is not a huge insult in English. It's not nice, but you might say "My brother did something really stupid" even if you love your brother. In Spanish, "estúpido" means inexcusably idiotic. If you call a friend "estúpido," that might very well be the end of the friendship. If you mean "kind of dumb," use "tonto/a." "Bruto/a" means stupid like an animal, "retarded," of below average intelligence.

As an illustration, I lived in a family with three daughters who did not get along very well. When they weren't really fighting, they might call each other "tonta" as a mild insult. When they were angry and truly meant to hurt each other, they would use "bruta." I never heard them get mad enough to use "estúpida."

Cursi—This is a word that really doesn't have an equivalent in English. "Affected" is a decent translation, except that it's not as common as "cursi." What it really means is "trying too hard to be cool, and missing the mark." You all know someone who has put together a look that really might work for someone else, but just turns them into a dweeb. That's cursi. It's a word that little teenage girls use a lot to insult other little teenage girls who are trying to fit in but just don't quite make it. If a person intends to look tacky, that's not cursi.

Despistado/a—Not really insulting. "Es un poco despistada"—She's kind of an airhead. "Está un poco despistada"—She's kind of spaced out today, not quite with it. Literally it means "off the path/track."

Grosero/a—Somebody who steps on your foot and doesn't apologize is "maleducado/a." Somebody who steps on your foot, doesn't apologize, and when you point it out to him/her, says "f--- you!" is grosero/a. "Maleducado/a" refers to a person with a lack of good manners; grosero/a is for a person with flat-out bad manners.

Testarudo/a—some of you may know the word "terco/a." There's not a lot of difference. "Testarudo/a" could also be translated as "headstrong"—someone who really wants to get their own way.

Para hablar del cuerpo—These are mostly pretty straightforward. Just a few notes:

Canoso—This refers only to hair. It's not a reference to color, but rather to having canas— those hairs you get when you're older which are a different texture and color. In English we choose to call them grey, but in fact they can be white or silver, instead.

Peluca—wig or toupee. It's a little insulting when used for "toupee," but there's not really any nice way to talk about fake hair for bald men.

Another note about physical descriptions:

In English, we tend to shy away from using physical characteristics to identify people, especially in sensitive areas like weight, skin color, or racial features. This is very different in many dialects of Spanish. If Bobby is the fattest person in the room and you ask, "¿Quién es Bobby?", it's very likely that the answer will be, "Ese allí, el gordito." This is true whether Bobby is just a tiny bit chubby or enormously obese, and it's not meant to be insulting in any way. Likewise, if Bobby is of African descent and has black skin, it's entirely normal for someone to say, "es negro." In some countries, "negro" just means dark-complected, regardless of what continent the person's ancestors came from.

You do not have to use these terms yourself, and in fact you probably shouldn't; it's fine to try to follow the rules of politeness of both cultures. You do need to know, however, that if someone else uses them, they're not being rude. Don't be shocked if, after you've given a long, detailed description of Bobby as "el chico pelirrojo con la camiseta azul," the other person says, "Ah, ¿el gordo?" (It also happens that "mi gordo/a" and "mi negro/a" in some countries are terms, used mainly by men, for someone who is extremely close to you—either a best friend or a "significant other"—even if that person is a skinny blond. This varies quite a bit, though.)

Verbos y expresiones

Caer bien / caer mal—This is the "safe" way of saying that you like someone with no chance of it being mistaken for romantic interest. Using "gustar" with people won't automatically be taken the wrong way (for example, in Destinos you'll hear María say "Luis me gusta," and nobody thinks for a minute that she has a crush on him), but "Me cae bien" can't be misinterpreted. By the way, this has a slightly "different" meaning in the preterite. "¡Qué suerte! Mi novio les cayó muy bien a mis padres" is something like, "He made a good impression; they took a liking to him."

Parecer / parecerse a-- This is best explained with examples. "Esa señora parece madre." She looks like a mother, any mother; maybe she drives a minivan and has a baby's sock hanging out of her pocket. "Esa señora se parece a mi madre." She looks like/resembles a specific person, my mother. Notice there's also "Javier y Jacobo se parecen mucho." They resemble each other.

Ser buena gente—Notice there's no article here; "Pablo es buena gente." Notice also that there's no plural form; "Pablo y Susana son buena gente."

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