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What does the expression "por refalada" mean in the following sentence?
Caer a un precipicio por refalada o empujado por las circunstancias siempre tenía el mismo resultado.
It's from an Argentine, or more specifically Patagonian, text from the turn of the 20th century.
I've checked my usual handful of dictionaries and DLE online with no results.
The Diccionario de americanismos should always be part of the "usual handful": http://lema.rae.es/damer/?key=refalada.
- f. Ch, p.u; Ar, rur, pop + cult → espon; Ur, p.u, pop. Resbalón o deslizamiento por una superficie pulida o resbaladiza.
- Ch, p.u.; metáf; Ar, rur. Desliz, desacierto, indiscreción. pop.
So I think it means "caer a un precipicio debido a un resbalón" (or "a un desliz", if it's in a metaphorical sense).
As @aris commented and @OnlyThenDidIReckonMyCurse explains, the term comes from resbalada.
As it happens with other words, not-so-well-educated people tended to mutate some words to the point that resfalada is well recognized in Argentina (mostly outside the cities).
Also, gauchos tends to "eat" the letter s from words too, and resfalada is also known as refalada too.
TL;DR: There is no difference, conceptually speaking, between resbalada, resfalada and refalada. Except that resbalada feels fancy to some people, revealing them that you are from a big city.
PD: Posted this as an answer since "comment" requires 50 reputation.
