Idioms, Slang, and Other Mothers
All languages have idiomatic expressions and proverbs that give them a special flavor. Sometimes they are translatable and sometimes they aren’t, which is a shame. But on the other hand, if they were easily translatable, they probably wouldn’t have that distinct flavor that makes them so much fun to use.When talking about the ruling party, for example, one very naturally thinks of the expression “No hay mal que dure cien años, ni persona que lo aguante” (“No evil lasts a hundred years, nor is there anyone who can bear it so long”.) Sounds much better in Spanish, right? One of the best sources of proverbs and sayings in Spanish happens to be its greatest novel, Miguel de Cervantes’s El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, and one could go on forever quoting them. Instead of traveling that road, let’s take a look at a few idioms which are peculiar to everyday Spanish.“Es pan comido”, for example. Literally it means “It’s eaten bread,” which doesn’t make much sense. The equivalent in English would be “It’s a piece of cake” or “It’s like taking candy from a baby”, meaning that we are talking about some¬thing especially easy. Another idiomatic expression having to do with bread is “el pan nuestro de cada día”, which comes from the Lord’s Prayer (“Give us this day our daily bread”). In Spanish, when used in everyday speech, it refers to something that happens every day or frequently. If someone were talking about crime in the city, for example, he or she might say something like “Los asaltos son el pan nuestro de cada día” (“Muggings are a dime a dozen”). And while we’re talking about días, if one is up-to-date, he is al día, as in “Hay que estar al día en los acontecimientos políticos que cimbran a la nación” (“One should keep abreast of the political events that are rocking the nation”).Politics, by the way, is referred to as “la polaca” in Mexican vernacular: “Jorge anda en la polaca” (“Jorge is in politics”). Following this logic, a politician is a polaco, and none of this has anything to do with the Polish, neither is any smear intended; it’s just simple slang.Speaking of slang, Mexican inventiveness is especially acute when it comes to coining expressions that aren’t usually found in the dictionary put out by the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (DRAE). One of the most common is, of course, ¡Qué padre!, roughly meaning “That’s terrific!” Careful though: the word madre should be used sparingly and with extreme caution. It means many things, and none of them have anything to do with padre. This differentiation may be sexist in origin, but who knows? Besides meaning “mother,” madre —unlike padre— usually connotes something extremely bad, and it is almost never used in good taste or in mixed company. For academic purposes, though, I think we can get away with a few examples that will be helpful to newcomers to the Spanish language in Mexico. One of our most common expressions of dismay is “¡En la madre!” The English equivalent would be something like “Holy s .” (I guess you know how to fill in the blank.) If one wants to say that something is worthless or that it is of no importance, he or she might utter the words “Vale madre” or “Me vale madres,” using either the singular or the plural in this case. Something that is of little or no value is a madre or a madrecita, as in “Me regalaron esta madre en el trabajo. Sirve para pura madre.” (“They gave this thing-a-ma-jig at work. It isn’t worth a damn”.) Madre does have positive connotations though. Referring to speed, for example, we can say “Iba hecho la madre”, meaning that the person was going very fast. Unfortunately, it also means that he or she was going about it in a very reckless way. Sometimes we say “¡A toda madre!”, which is almost the equivalent of “¡Qué padre!” Even so, it is often used sarcastically to mean something like “Oh, great! That’s all we needed!” If someone says he has a madral of something, it’s an awful lot…It isn’t my intention to be crass or impolite by mentioning different uses of this word. On the contrary: I believe it is important that newcomers to Mexico be aware of the meanings of certain words they might come across in speech, or that they might use incorrectly. A good rule of thumb, in polite company, is to use the word mamá when referring to someone’s mother. It has no negative or aggressive overtones. Idiomatic, slang and non-standard expressions, when not abused, are our linguistic spices of life. Mexico is full of them.
If you would like to know more about any idiomatic expressions you may have heard, or about any Span¬ish-language difficulties, feel free to contact me at sandrocohen@gmail.com
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