25
votes
Accepted
Enumeración: Mil millón vs. Billón
Según el Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas
billón.
Voz procedente del francés billion, ‘un millón de millones (1012)’. Es inaceptable su empleo en español con el sentido de ‘mil millones’, que es el ...
- 2,840
23
votes
¿En qué países la palabra "coger" tiene connotaciones sexuales?
De acuerdo a Wikipedia, salen 25 países de habla hispana. Con lo que cada uno aporte, podemos actualizar esta lista, porque no sé si va a ser posible que una sola persona aporte una lista completa.
...
- 47.6k
23
votes
Accepted
How is “pea” translated into Spanish?
First of all I found all sorts of variations of “pea” in English, so I needed to clarify some things in my own language before I could attempt to answer this. Rather than recreate the wheel, I’m just ...
- 5,505
21
votes
Accepted
Translation of the phrase "I'm happy."
It depends on the context of the question .
The verb "estar" in that phrase is commonly used for that particular moment.
Estoy feliz. (I am happy at the moment.)
However, "ser" can be used for ...
- 326
19
votes
Accepted
Difference between -iera and -iese ending of the imperfect subjunctive
In English
The -se forms descend from the Latin pluperfect subjunctive. It is more common in some regions (like Spain), and has a higher frequency in writing than in speech.
The -ra forms descend ...
- 29.8k
15
votes
Accepted
What are the origin, meaning and connotations of "gringo" in Spanish?
English with Original Quotes in Spanish
(Answer with quotes translated below)
The overwhelming evidence is that gringo originated in Spain in the 1700s or earlier from griego, ‘Greek’, in the sense ...
- 509
15
votes
In what ways is the letter “s” (or the /s/ sound) pronounced in Spain?
None of these answers answer the question.
The pronunciation of the s in Spain will vary a little by region. But, generally, the ese castellana (not unique to Spain but very common, hence the name) ...
- 29.8k
15
votes
Accepted
Spanish for "breasts"
Spain usage:
The word pecho can be considered an exact equivalent of the English breast; you can use it uncountably (the front part of your thorax) or countably (women have two of them). It is a ...
- 9,959
15
votes
Difference between "manejar" and "conducir"
That's quite a weird phrase to me simply because I'm from Spain.
Manejar is only used in Latin American countries; conducir is the only word for drive in Spain.
Also, this phrase must have been ...
- 1,254
15
votes
Accepted
Difference between "coche" and "carro"
In Spain we favor coche for a car, while a carro is more like a four wheeled cart (similar to the word carreta, which is a smaller, two wheeled cart), the one that would use horses or mules to pull it....
- 47.6k
15
votes
Can the term "agua potable" not mean "drinkable water"?
In many parts of Mexico, water as it flows through the municipal water mains is often referred to by the government as "agua potable", but people do not generally take this to mean that the municipal ...
- 10.6k
15
votes
Is "méndigo" considered offensive?
The word "mendigo" without an accent is used commonly in Spain to refer to a person that asks for money in the street. It is a standard word and not inappropriate.
The word "méndigo", with an accent, ...
wimi♦
- 10.9k
14
votes
Fireworks en español
Aquí, en España, usamos "Fuegos artificiales", sin que suene especialmente técnico. En tono coloquial, si está claro el contexto, tambien se dice a veces "los fuegos":
¡Vamos a ver los fuegos!
¡Vamos ...
- 2,265
14
votes
Accepted
Why is Argentinian pronunciation different from other countries?
No, your ears are perfectly fine. In fact, it is notable that you have noticed the difference between the two different forms of the imperative tense.
There are indeed some differences between the ...
- 76.4k
14
votes
Can the term "agua potable" not mean "drinkable water"?
I can't answer your question in terms of all South America, but it definitely seems to be regional. I'm from Dominican Republic and I've only ever heard of "agua potable" with the meaning that it's ...
- 159
14
votes
Can the term "agua potable" not mean "drinkable water"?
"Agua potable" is indeed drinkable water. Take into account that the second meaning that you see in the diccionary is a coloquialism.
Potable
adj. coloq. Pasable, aceptable.
In contrast ...
- 47.6k
12
votes
"Iros" instead of "idos" (imperative of verb "ir")
TL;DR
The "problem" is so extended that RAE finally decided to consider that that's actually the way people speak, making it a valid version for the imperative.
Long answer
To update this ...
- 47.6k
12
votes
Accepted
Difference between "manejar" and "conducir"
Although they are expressions of the same sense (observing regional differences that have been mentioned), you must remember that these are words with different meanings.
Manejar involves taking ...
- 15.8k
12
votes
Accepted
¿Qué quiere decir "comer la oreja" a alguien?
El significado realmente no es "intentar seducir a alguien", sino "convencer a alguien de algo" (aunque se puede argumentar que eso también puede ser considerado seducir a alguien), hablándole con ...
- 47.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Usage of the word acullá
As others have said, this is not a commonly spoken word, but is found mostly in poetry and writing, perhaps especially used in folk and children tales. I would use "acá y acullá" as the equivalent of "...
11
votes
Accepted
Does "parientes" ever mean "parents," or is it always "relatives"?
Parientes always means relatives, never parents. I'm not very sure why your friends said that.
- 3,275
11
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between frijoles and habichuelas?
Given the great extension of territories where Spanish is spoken, there are for a single type of food, many ways to name it, according to the country (or region in a single one).
There's also an ...
- 6,181
11
votes
Accepted
¿Qué significa "como agua para chocolate"?
Succinctly explained in Como agua para chocolate: Un dicho mexicano hecho novela:
"Como agua para chocolate" es un popular dicho mexicano que significa
estar molesto o muy furioso. El mismo ...
- 33.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Diferencias entre "Sánguche" y "Sandwich", y origen de la palabra
En el diccionario panhispánico de dudas se puede consultar lo siguiente en la entrada para "sándwich":
[Sándwich] es la forma mayoritariamente usada por los hablantes cultos en todo el ámbito ...
- 76.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Is brass translated as "bronce" or "latón"?
Quoting from Wikipedia:
El bronce es toda aleación metálica de cobre y estaño, en la que
el primero constituye su base y el segundo aparece en una proporción
del 3 al 20 %. Puede incluir otros ...
- 38.9k
10
votes
Spanish for "breasts"
Indeed they do all refer to the same thing, but you are right, they do all have different connotations.
Seno - Cleavage
The space between the breasts; The space between the chest and a woman's shirt....
- 3,842
10
votes
Accepted
La llave vs. la clave
The "llave" in the context of a faucet may also be called "llave de paso" and is the one that lets the pipes feed the faucet or the whole house water stream:
We also use "...
- 47.6k
10
votes
What is the difference among "perdón", "disculpa" and "lo siento"?
"Disculpe" is used more when you want to ask something. If you want to be polite, talking to someone you don't know you can say:
-Disculpe, me podría decir la hora, por favor.
-Sorry, could you ...
- 101
10
votes
Are there dialectal differences in spelling in Spanish?
Some may say that there are not, however there are two special cases where there are spelling differences:
Vídeo (Spain) | Video (Latin America). This one is due to the differences in pronunciation. ...
- 1,628
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