Looking at modern Spanish, we still find the huge influence of the Arabic language, dating from the centuries of Islamic occupation. We also have to take into account the regional dialects and languages of Gallego, Catalan, Basque, not to mention caló (gypsy), while the enormous variety of Latin American local terms from Chile to Mexico is a study in itself. How do we translate the simple word chango when the Dictionary of the Real Academia tells us that it has some eight different meanings, from "elegant man" to "shopping trolley," depending on where you are in the continent?
San Francisco radio journalist Rose del Castillo Guilbault, reveals that sometimes translation and the adoption of words results in an unhappy corruption of meaning. She describes the meaning of "macho" for herself, coming from a Mexican background, in contrast with the image of this word in American culture.
"What is macho?"That depends on which side of the border you come from. Although it's not unusual for words and expressions to lose their subtlety in translation, the negative connotations of "macho" in the United States are troublesome to Hispanics. "Es muy macho," the women in my family [in Mexico] nod approvingly, describing a man they respect. But in the United States, when women say, "He's so macho," it's with disdain. The Hispanic macho is manly, responsible, hardworking, a man in charge, a patriarch. A man who expresses strength through silence. What the Yiddish language would call a mensch. The American "macho" is a chauvinist, a brute, uncouth, selfish, loud, abrasive, capable of inflicting pain, and sexually promiscuous. Quintessential "macho" models in America are Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Charles Bronson. In their movies, they exude toughness, independence, masculinity. But a closer look reveals their "machismo" is really violence masquerading as courage, sullenness disguised as silence, and irresponsibility camouflaged as independence. If the Hispanic ideal of macho were translated to American screen roles, they might be Jimmy Stewart, Sean Connery, and Laurence Olivier.
Spanish has also given us the untranslatable world of Latin American dance - not just "dancing" as we know it, but dance where everything hangs out in the abandonment to rhythm and music. Flamenco is forever flamenco, but the recent popularity of salsa, samba, rumba, mambo, cha-cha, and marengue illustrates the intensity of our search for the antidote to Freudian inhibitions. Who needs analysis if you can salsa the night away without falling over? Most of these dances have no equivalent in other tongues, and some, like the intense tango, are more than mere dances, but cultural zones in their own right, infused with their own narratives, vocabulary, mood, color, and following.
Here are a few terms that capture something of the untranslatable vitality, variety, and wonder of Spanish culture.
duende [dwen-deh] (adjective)
This wonderful word captures an entire world of passion, energy, and artistic excellence and describes a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art. Duende originally meant "imp" or "goblin" and came to mean anything magical. It now has a depth and complexity of meaning that crosses artistic borders, from flamenco dancing to bullfighting. The Spanish poet García Lorca wrote an eloquent essay on duende that explores the complex and inspirational flavor of its sense, and I know no better introduction.
aquelarre [ak-ell-orr-eh] (noun)
A Spanish borrowing from Basque, a tongue that is itself a linguistic puzzle, bearing absolutely no relation to other European languages. The original Basque word akelarre means "the meadow of the male goat," and the word refers to a nighttime gathering of a coven of witches, in a suitably rustic area, to invoke the presence of the devil, who normally participates as a male goat. Well, he would, wouldn't he!
cutre [ku-treh] (adjective)
This expressive adjective describes anything that is not to your taste, everything from a bar, a street, a hotel, clothing, to furniture. However, the word expresses not just bad taste or over-the-top taste (the Spanish also use the word kitsch) but anything foreign to your own liking or standards. "Tacky" might be the closest English slang gets to this word, but even this misses the disdain with which a Spanish girl might say of her boyfriend, iQué regalo más cutre me did! (He gave me such a cutre present!)
chungo [tchun-go] (adjective)
From the gypsy word for "ugly" and meaning generally "pretty bad." No translation can get across this word's almost comic sense of disaster. Here's a Spanish joke that illustrates the difference between bueno, malo, and chungo ("good," "bad," and "chungo") through a number of life situations:
Bueno: Your wife is pregnant.
Malo: It's triplets. r Chungo:
You had a vasectomy two years ago.
Bueno: Your wife hardly speaks.
Malo: She wants a divorce.
Chungo: She's a lawyer.
paseo [pass-eh-o] (noun)
The time of evening when the heat of the sun is diminishing and the siesta is over is the moment of the paseo. It is the time when the Spanish dress themselves and their children up to the nines and go out to walk around the main square, or up and down the shade of avenues. It's a time of meeting and looking, seeing and being seen. Late on summer nights, after the cena, the same gentle ambling takes place until well after midnight, with small children often, by that time, dozing on their parent's shoulders.
gilipollas [chee-lee-poll-yass] (adjective)
This is another word of gypsy origin, that at its root means "innocent" in the sense of "born yesterday." It has become a rich-sounding insult for anyone behaving stupidly and irresponsibly, from bad drivers to thoughtless youth in the streets. iQué gilipollas!
mañana [man-ya-na] (noun)
We translate this common word into English as "tomorrow," the day that follows today, but there is a strong possibility that in most parts of the Spanish-speaking world, manana refers to some other indefinite and untranslatable time concept related to the future. It compares well with the Arabic word bukra.
pícaro [pee-ka-ro] (noun, adjective)
This word has wide and colorful associations. Students of Spanish literature come across la picaresca as a style of novel, a kind of episodic storywriting usually involving rogues drifting through society, well-illustrated by Cervantes's Don Quijote. The typical picaro is one who lives off his wits in order to survive. La picaresca summons up a whole tapestry of human life at its most inventive, ingenious, and resilient. Picaro can mean smart, astute, clever, cunning, mischievous, naughty, shameless, wicked, saucy, impudent, lustful, roguish, dishonorable, bold, daring, racy, brazen, or cheeky. It practically sums up the human condition!
