No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveOfficial Spanish dictionary adds bagel, pretzel, van

Official Spanish dictionary adds bagel, pretzel, van

For a long time, Spanish-speakers struggled to describe “bagels” or “pretzels” to those who didn’t know the English word. Now, the task of describing the bread-based snacks just got easier.

The official Royal Spanish Academy dictionary will include several new “estadounidismos,” or words commonly spoken by Spanish speakers in the United States, according to El País.

The next edition of the dictionary will have the English terms bagel, pretzel, van, Latino, paralegal, email and phishing. (Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “phishing” as a scam by which an email user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information.)

Also, several Spanish cognates of English words will be added to the dictionary, including: billón (billion), trillón (trillion), rentar (rent), agencia (agency), podiatría (podiatry), departmento (department, as in State Department) and parada (parade).

With more than 55 million Hispanics living in the U.S., the academy thought it was important to recognize these words in the dictionry, Gerardo Piña-Rosales, president of the North American Academy of Spanish Language, told El País.

“They are Spanish terms that reflect the national character [in reference to the U.S.],” Piña-Rosales said. “These are forms of the language that Spanish speakers in the U.S. have become accustomed to.”

Piña-Rosales said it’s important to remember there exists a separate Spanish subculture in the U.S., just as there is in Mexico or Argentina. In Spain, if you say the word departamento instead of ministerio (ministry), nobody will know what that means. But in the U.S., departamento is a commonplace Spanish word, he said.

The Royal Spanish Academy tries to keep its finger on the pulse of contemporary language. In August, the academy decided to add the words tuitear (Twitter), tuit (tweet) and tuitero (Twitter user) to the dictionary – referencing the ubiquitous social media site, Twitter. Words like blog, libro electrónico (e-book) and tableta (tablet, as in electronic devices like the iPad) already are in the dictionary.

As El País stated in its article, soon phrases that seem like a bad translation of English will be accurate Spanish, such as: “He enviado un ‘email’ con una ‘aplicación’ para ‘rentar’ un piso frente a la tienda de ‘bagels’”.

Translation: “I sent an email with an application to rent a floor in front of the bagel shop.”

Trending Now

Short Term Rental Income in Costa Rica to Face New Tax Rules

Property owners in Costa Rica who rent accommodations through popular platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com will soon face a new tax obligation. The General...

What are Diatoms and how are they used in Costa Rica?

A key ally in natural pest control is now available in Costa Rica.

Salvadoran Lawyers Fight for Rights of Trump-Deported Migrants in Secretive Prison

A small group of overstretched and outmatched lawyers is fighting for the rights of men deported by the Trump administration and held in a...

Exiled NGO Slams Bukele’s Rule as Repeat of Authoritarian Past

Salvadorans deserve “something better” than living between “gangs or dictatorship,” said Noah Bullock, director of the influential NGO Cristosal, in an interview. On Thursday,...

Canadian Tourist Killed in Costa Rica During A Robbery Attempt

A 40-year-old Canadian man lost his life in a violent robbery at a rental home in the Los Jobos area of Tamarindo, Guanacaste, on...

Good Timing Leads to Rare Snake Encounter in Costa Rica

When it comes to viewing wildlife in person, timing is everything. There’s a great big world out there and the chances of you being...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica