This Page

has been moved to new address

Friday's Five - 5 Latin-American Expressions I've Mastered at Work

Sorry for inconvenience...

Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service
100MILES HIGHWAY: Friday's Five - 5 Latin-American Expressions I've Mastered at Work

This Page

has been moved to new address

Friday's Five - 5 Latin-American Expressions I've Mastered at Work

Sorry for inconvenience...

Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service
100MILES HIGHWAY: Friday's Five - 5 Latin-American Expressions I've Mastered at Work

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Friday's Five - 5 Latin-American Expressions I've Mastered at Work

Hello! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or join me on Facebook to be regularly updated. Thanks for visiting!




When weighting a job, I give a lot of importance to the work atmosphere. And that, precisely, was something that really caught me when I was interviewed by my present employer - Many of my colleagues were spanish speakers (mostly argentinians and chileans)! This made it easier for me to decide to settle down in a country where I did not speak the language. They have helped me out, cheered me up and have made me feel a tiny little bit closer to home. 

I've realized that, during this year and a half, I have not only learned about the business itself and its technicalities, but I've also been exposed to a whole new range of regional vocabulary that has slowly grown into my day to day expressions. I guess that's one of the advantages of an international work environment - We unconsciously learn a new language (or in my case, a new slang!). 

The following words are now part of my daily vocabulary:
  1. Cachafaz. Someone cheeky, shameless and impertinent. Often used to refer to the counterparty, when it comes up with an unacceptable condition or price in an ongoing negotiation. 
  2. Pelotudo. A dumbass. Used to describe yourself when you realize that you've left to lunch break without your wallet or that you forgot an important appointment. 
  3. Che. Che is used to call a friend. It's almost a habit to start every question with a "Che" now. If I don't, the sentence feels empty!
  4. Poronga. Now this one is tricky, and shouldn't be used too liberally as it has a double meaning. Let's just say, I use it as a derogatory comment - to high-hat something, such as the excel model that I had been working on for hours and suddenly turns the expected result into one fat error. 
  5. Boludo. If you are a boludo, you are not very bright, pretty dumb or just plain clueless. However, it's also used among friends, without being offensive. Mainly used... well, all the time. 
What about you? Have you acquired some "foreign" words into your daily vocabulary?

Labels: , , ,

9 Comments:

At March 10, 2011 at 4:39 PM , Blogger Andi of My Beautiful Adventures said...

Haha, these are SO Argie!!!

 
At March 10, 2011 at 9:45 PM , Blogger Meri said...

These are great- not only are they good for the usage, but fun words to say! When I was living in Spain I picked up some of the swears for sure :)

 
At March 11, 2011 at 2:07 AM , Blogger TexaGermaFinlaNadian said...

HEY! You totally stole my idea for my post today. I am going to make Fridays cuss words in German Fridays, haha. I love these, and I love learning new 'interesting' words :) Thanks for sharing!!

 
At March 12, 2011 at 10:02 AM , Anonymous Ayngelina said...

Definitely Southern slang as I haven't heard any of these yet.

Actually I'm aware of Che but only from reading not from Mexico, Central America or the north of South America.

I'm putting them on my list as I'm heading to Chile this week.

 
At March 12, 2011 at 11:38 AM , Blogger Cat said...

Ha! I don't really have any foreign words in my vocab but now I really feel like I should. Imagine how much cooler I would sound chatting with my co-workers :) I am going to embrace "Che" right away. xx Cat

Great list! :)

 
At March 13, 2011 at 2:19 PM , Blogger Victoria said...

haha how fun! I'm learning French but I want to learn the slang so bad! I need to get my butt over there sometime!

Glad I found your blog!

 
At March 13, 2011 at 2:56 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm visiting from FTLOB! Happy to get a fun vocab lesson ... I like Pelotudo, heehee! And I like the sweetness of Che.

Hope you're having a great weekend ;)

Maegan

 
At March 13, 2011 at 8:35 PM , Blogger Meri said...

Hi there. I awarded you a "Merry Meri." The only way to really describe that is to read my post today haha.
Cheers!
Meri

 
At March 14, 2011 at 2:24 AM , Blogger Travel With Lulu said...

My sister lived in BA for 3 years, and it took her a long time to drop the 'che'. Love that
XOL

 

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving me a message!

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home