I thought clavado had something to do with nails–clavos–which it does. To hammer or drive in a nail is clavar. It can also mean to be stuck to something like having been nailed.

But what got me to thinking about clavado is when I saw it used at a swimming pool. The word clavado is used for the sport of diving. The idea is that you enter the water straight and fast like a nail going into a board.

It seems there are many figurative uses for the word clavar/clavado as well.

Literally the word deshuesadero means a de-boner (i.e.: someone who fillets chickens or fish). The common usage for the word is a junk yard, or used car parts dealer.

This time of year the viveros are very busy. A vivero is a plant nursery.

Never heard of TLCAN? What about NAFTA? They are the same thing.

NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement

TLCAN: Tratado de Libre Comercio de Norteamérica

Salchicha is a hot dog or a sausage.

I met someone a few months ago who knew a little Spanish and one of the words she knew was that salchicha meant sausage. She insisted that there must be a different word for hot dog. It was humorous to me to hear her argue her position that there had to be two different words for the two different items. While there are other words that can be used, salchicha is the one word we use for both in our part of Mexico.

Then this week I was talking with another friend who has a Cuban background. We were ordering pizza and I told him to get salchicha on one of the pizzas. He could not figure out why I wanted hot dog on a pizza and not chorizo (another word for sausage). He too was convinced that I needed to use two different words, but a different set of words.

All through the Spanish speaking world there are different ways to say the same thing. It happens in English too, we just don’t realize it.

You would not want someone calling you prepotente. While it is not a curse word or anything like that, it is an adjective that describes someone who is overbearing, arrogant, or a bully.

I was in the store the other day and saw an advertisement for a vajilla. A vajilla is a set of dishes.