29 votes
Accepted

When does a "pez" become a "pescado"?

I think that "pescado" is the participle form of the verb "pescar", which means "to fish", so I guess that once you fish a fish it turns from "pez" to pescado". Pescar: Sacar o tratar de sacar del ...
  • 47.9k
25 votes

Why does Agustín say "miércoles" in the Encanto movie? What does it mean?

In that context, miércoles is a minced oath. That is, a mild, inoffensive expression which replaces a stronger, more offensive one. In this case, the word to replace is mierda. It has the same effect ...
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21 votes
Accepted

What does "pa k kieres saber eso jaja saludos" mean?

Written with normal spelling, it reads as follows: ¿Para qué quieres saber eso? Jaja. Saludos. In other words: Whither dost thou want to know that? Ha. Farewell. Okay, that's a bit formal. ...
19 votes
Accepted

Difference between 'mirar' and 'ver'

Just imagine that you were looking one of those "spot the 7 differences" pictures. You could say Miré las dos imágenes por mucho tiempo, pero no vi las diferencias I looked at both images for a ...
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16 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....
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15 votes
Accepted

Translating legal document - what is "fs. 9 de autos"?

In Spanish legal language, "fs." means "fojas" (folio). It is not the same as "page", because it includes both sides, front and reverse. Black's Law Dictionary gives this explanation and definition: ...
  • 28.3k
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 ...
  • 10.7k
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 ...
  • 47.9k
13 votes
Accepted

¿Qué tiene que ver "acérrimo" (aplicado a personas) con "acre"?

Acre es un cultismo importado del latín (acer, acris) en el siglo XVI. Acérrimo no deriva de acre, sino que también se importó como cultismo por la misma época, directamente del latín acerrimus, ...
  • 5,566
13 votes
Accepted

¿Existe un verbo para "hablar en voz alta"?

Para el caso concreto del teatro, la expresión que buscas es proyectar la voz. Este es el término que se usa tanto en teatro como en canto para hacer referencia a la técnica vocal que hay que ...
  • 1,756
12 votes

Significado de "ah re"

En Argentina se usa por la gente joven (adolescentes) en el ambiente informal. El ah re se puede entender como la afirmación de que uno dijo una tontería. Se usa por ejemplo en: Ahora sale volando,...
  • 269
11 votes
Accepted

What is the usage of adding 'ao' to the ending of words?

The pronunciation of -ado as /áo/ or even /áu/ is very common throughout Cuba and the entire Spanish-speaking world. It happens to a lesser extent with other vowel-D-vowel combinations, mostly word-...
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 ...
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11 votes

Meaning of "un jugo de latita o de latota"?

You do not mention where this happened, but in some places (Puerto Rico comes to mind) la tota is slang for a woman external sexual organs. So the bartender was indeed very rude.
  • 10k
11 votes
Accepted

What is the difference between "mobiliario" and "mueble(s)"?

Mobiliario is a collective noun; it corresponds well with English "furniture". Mueble is a countable noun; it means "piece of furniture". Therefore you can say either Vamos a comprar muebles nuevos. ...
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10 votes
Accepted

¿Qué significa "alta noche"?

Alta noche es un equivalente a Altas horas de la noche. En España usamos las expresiones: La fiesta duró hasta altas horas de la noche O también La fiesta duró hasta alta noche Para ...
  • 409
10 votes

"suavecillo" or "suavecito"?

Contrary to what fedorqui states in his answer, you can rarely talk in binary terms (correct/incorrect) when addressing language use or, specially, dictionaries. Dictionaries' task is to exclusively ...
  • 101
10 votes
Accepted

What does "me gusta" mean in these sentences?

It refers to 'likes' in social networks, such as Facebook likes and so. In the Spanish version of Facebook, when you see the 'like it' button, it says 'me gusta', and that's the reason why 'me gusta' ...
  • 536
10 votes
Accepted

Is calling someone "tonto" offensive?

It actually depends on the context, and also depends on intonation a lot. However, I think most of the times we use it (in Spain) in an offensive way, it comes always with some emphasize that makes ...
  • 536
10 votes
Accepted

¿Existe la expresión "violencia feminista"?

La "violencia feminista" no existe porqué el feminismo no es lo contrario que el machismo. Feminismo: Doctrina y movimiento social que pide para la mujer el reconocimiento de unas capacidades y ...
  • 148
10 votes
Accepted

¿Qué significa "el mistolero"?

"Mistolero" means "Santiagueño" (from Santiago del Estero, Argentina). "Gato santiagueño" is a variant (as danced in Santiago) of the Gato, a traditional folkloric dance. ...
  • 634
9 votes

Origen y significado de «Aprovecha gaviota que no hay otra»

Es simplemente una rima. Se suele decir "no hay otra (oportunidad)" o "no te verás en otra (situación igual)". Y para que la frase quede graciosa y rime, llamas al interlocutor gaviota. Por cierto, ...
  • 1,254
9 votes

Is "síguenos" a real Spanish word?

Síguenos is a standard Spanish word. The verb seguir means “to follow.” Sigue is the affirmative tú command (second-person singular informal imperative) of seguir. Nos is a direct object pronoun that ...
9 votes
Accepted

Significado de "lapsus cálami"

Lapsus cálami es una locución latina que literalmente significa "error de pluma". Gramaticalmente, está formada con el nominativo de lapsus, -us (error) y el genitivo de calamus, -i (pluma). El ...
  • 1,928
9 votes

¿Cuál es el significado de "merced" en un contexto de Edad Media?

Merced significa "gracia". Vuestra merced sería el equivalente en español a "your grace". Se utilizaba para Dios o la realeza, dado el supuesto origen divino de la misma. Efectivamente, vuestra ...
  • 595
9 votes
Accepted

¿Cuál es el origen de la palabra "menudo"?

Menudo, -da significa pequeño (-a). Proviene del latín, minutus, que es al mismo tiempo un adjetivo y el participio del verbo minuo, disminuir, empequeñecer. En pocas palabras, etimológicamente menudo ...
  • 2,361
9 votes
Accepted

What's the meaning of the expression "toma chocolate paga lo que debe"?

Apparently, this is an expression that is still used in Cuba. La confitería de la viuda says: Esta frase se sigue utilizando a día de hoy, sobre todo en Cuba. Quiere decir que disfrutes de todo ...
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