Here’s a word that is hitting close to home right now.

Gripe is a cold or illness. Tener gripe is to be sick or have a cold.

While listening to two mutual friends talk I heard the word ganga for the first time. These two friends, older than me by 20 years, share a language all their own. They have been best friends for almost 30 years. When they talk with one another, I never know if the words they are using are real words.

There are times when a word just sounds wrong. Actually this word sounded like something that should not be said in polite company. I doubted that it meant anything too bad since both these men are pastors.

I was relieved to find out that the word means a bargain or a good deal.

The English word complacent means to be satisfied. Normally it is used to mean self-satisfaction.

While technically accurate, I was a bit surprised by that definition. It often carries a negative connotation and I always thought of it as having the idea of lazy without a desire to improve the situation. According to every dictionary I read it simply means to be satisfied with your situation.

The reason I was reading the English definition is I had seen the word complacer in Spanish several times and knew it meant satisfied. That made me think that maybe I did not have a proper understanding of the English word. Then I checked the Urban Dictionary and saw that there are others who think the same as I.

Complacer in Spanish seems to be used more positively than the English complacent.

I ran across this interesting word a week or so back. Menguar means to diminish, to lessen or to wane.

It can be used to refer to something that was substantial but is now a mere shadow of itself.

To train someone for a position is capacitar. You can easily see the English word capacitate in the Spanish version. We just don’t use capacitate enough for that word to be the first one we think of when looking for the word train.

You can also use it to equip someone for service. There is another Spanish word that fits nicely in there. That is the word equipar.

Chiflado can be the past participle of chiflar, to whistle, or it can be an adjective to mean crazy or loony.

I am thinking of the adjective. It can also mean mad as in, not having it all together as opposed to mad meaning angry.

This can be used to say someone is crazy about something too. “Estoy chiflado por Stephanie.”

To precipitate a problem, or solution, is to bring it to the forefront, or to make it stand out. The word comes from the idea of to throw or hurl ahead. In Spanish, that is exactly what the word means, to throw or hurl with the idea of haste.

I have not heard this word used in common speech, but I have read it quite a bit in literature. It is a confusing word to me because I often think it means precipice, which is precipicio.