I don’t know how such a useful word has alluded me for all these years. The word obstante did not come onto my vocabulary radar until recently (after having been a Spanish speaker for 7 years). However, the word obstante is a very useful one. As a conjunction it can be expressed with the basic English […]

Your medio ambiente is your environment. This refers to your cultural, social or natural environment.

We had a pipe break in the street in front of our house recently. While trying to figure out who to call  we found the phrase fuga de agua. Literally it means a flight of water but is used to refer to water escaping accidently.

No deje piedras sobre el pavimento is a sign we see frequently while traveling through Mexico. It means, do not leave stones on the pavement. It’s an interesting and necessary sign that stems from people placing stones on the road behind their car to warn others they are stopped or broken down. The problem arises […]

In its most benign form bien means good. ¿Como está? (How are you?) Bien. (Good, fine.) Bien can also mean muy. Those shoes are bien feo (very ugly). Make it plural, bienes, and you have goods, material possessions.

Aguafiestas is from the two words, agua and fiestas. Agua being water and fiestas parties, a wet party. But more properly it is a slang term for a wet blanket, a kill joy, a party pooper, or someone who takes all the fun out.

Demás is usually seen in the phrase lo demás or los demás which means the others or the rest. It is however also used as por demás to mean something useless. And also as por lo demás meaning otherwise.