Efectivo is effective. As in, goes into effect, or it has power.

Efectivo is also used to mean cash. This is a usage that I have heard a lot, but have not really understood. While trying to figure out its meaning, I ran across an example of how to use the word that makes sense.

At Word Reference it uses the example “hacer efectivo un cheque.” It means “to cash a check.” Or, you could translate it, to make the check effective, or to make the check have power. A check becomes usable when it is effective or made into cash.

Another sign seen on our trip was for deslave. When I went looking for a definition of this word, I was first routed to deslizarse which means to slide. Then I was sent to derrubiar, I have never encountered this word before so some digging was required. Derrubiar refers to a river that robs earth from the shore, erosion.

When we saw signs for deslave they were always near a section of road that has collapsed because the foundation has been eroded by water. So deslave would be a washed out section of the road.

On our recent trip we saw signs for the end of a zona de asentamiento. We had never seen the word asentamiento previously and because we are English speakers to us asent means to go up, so an area of going up or hills sounded feasible but there were no hills in this area.

Well I have dug around and discovered that a zona de asentamiento would be a place with a group of shanty houses, nothing permanent or lasting, or the lodging of an army.

What about you? Have you seen this word before used in a different context?

The “at” symbol (@) for an email address is called arroba.

It is also used as a measure of weight which varies between 11.5 and 12.5 kg. depending on where it is used.

As an athlete I often hear people talk about alto rendimiento. I gathered an idea of what it meant by the way it is used. The meaning I extracted had to do with getting the most you can out of your abilities. Yesterday while browsing through the clothing section of Wal-Mart I saw a shirt that had the words performance and rendimiento on it.

Rendimiento is performance. It is also the yield that a recipe gives you.

On our recent trip we went through many poblados, that is towns. You could also say ciudad or villa.

All poblados had topes. Topes are speed bumps. In most towns people would stand in the street on the topes selling things. This was a help to let us know where the topes were and to slow down.

There were also many peatones in each poblado. Peatones are pedestrians.

So if you ever drive through Mexican poblados watch out for topes and peatones.

When we get our visa renewed we have to send it to Mexico City for a prórroga. Prórroga is an extension. It can mean a renewal, but more specifically it means to add time to something. It is also used for overtime work.

Prorrogar is to extend or postpone. It can mean to delay or defer.