Discover Spanish With Us

Poco Frecuente

David — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:41:53 +0000

Poco frecuente means to be infrequent. This site is going to be updated poco frecuente over the next couple of weeks.

We are moving out of Mexico for a year. During this time of packing and traveling, it has been hard to stay consistent in writing new words. We appreciate your patience with this, and hope that you still drop by for a visit. The best way to make sure you don’t miss any words is to subscribe to the RSS feed.

Tarima

David — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:13:57 +0000

We are moving and will be storing our stuff at someone’s house. I mentioned that I needed to get something to lift the items off the floor in case of a hurricane. The man who will be watching our stuff told me I needed tarimas. Of course I was thinking a pallet. Tarima is a good word for pallet, but it also means any type of platform or dais.

Hazaña

David — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:38:30 +0000

While watching the Olympics the announcers talked about the accomplishment of one of the athletes. He used the word hazaña. It means a great or heroic deed, an achievement, a feat.

Estibar

David — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:38:35 +0000

Estibar is to load or stow. This would be like loading something for shipping.

We bought some boxes the other day that say, “Estiba maxima 4 cajas” which I assume to mean, “Don’t stack more than 4 high.”

Aparejar

David — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:17:24 +0000

Aparejar is a verb that means to saddle (as in a horse), or to rig up, or prepare something for use. I don’t know if it is a common word or not. I read it in literature and am not sure that I have ever seen it used otherwise.

Prestar

David — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 03:03:10 +0000

Prestar is not an uncommon word. We most often see it used when talking about lending something to someone. Along the lines of lending is the idea of rendering service.

The reflexive form of the verb, prestarse, has some other interesting meanings. It can mean “to be open to” as in the phrase: Dar ocasión de prestarse a críticas. It can also mean to be suitable for a job or ready to perform a task.

Medio ambiente

Stephanie — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:28:03 +0000

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

Empero

David — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:00:15 +0000

Empero means nevertheless. It was not an easy word to find in dictionaries. A good, more commonly used synonym, is sin embargo.

Sinsabor

David — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:28:32 +0000

Sinsabor is a descriptive term for something that is without taste or pleasure. I presume it can be used to talk about food, but the usage I have heard has been when talking about the discomforts or displeasures of life. Troubles or problems that people struggle with.

Estacionamiento

David — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:17:18 +0000

The place to park your car is the estacionamiento. It is the noun for a parking lot or a parking space. The verb is reflexive and is estacionarse.

One of the worst “spanglish” words I have heard is parquear meaning to park. I suppose out of all the bad combinations of English and Spanish I have heard, that is the one that bothers me the most. But, I do have to admit that parquear is much easier to say than estacionarse.

I read that estacionamiento en bateria means to park in a normal way where you put the front end or back end of your car into the parking spot. And parallel parking was referred to as estacionamiento en línea. I don’t know that I have ever heard these terms used.