In Latin America, the word often used to mean "cool, man!" is: "chevere!" But Latin American Spanish ain't Spain-y Spanish, baby. Therefore, you have to do your research before you bandy about your old slang in a new country.Here's what happened when I asked my lovely host family in Barcelona to explain the Spain-y Spanish version of "cool, man!"
"Do you know what means 'chulo'?" asked Anna.
"No, please explain," I said.
"It is the man who is selling the prostitutes," said Anna innocently.
"PIMP?!" I exclaimed.
"Maybe," said Anna. "So the word for 'cool' in Spain is often: "Chulo!'"
"Ok, wait," I gasped, "are you telling me that the most common word for 'Neat! Nice! Excellent!' in Spain is... PIMP?""Yes," said Anna. "You can also say 'chulisimo,' 'una chulada,' and so on. It has many exciting forms."
"'Super-Pimpy?' 'Pimpish?' 'Pimpesque?'" I choked out. "Are you serious?"
"Yes," said Anna.
"So could I use this word in front of, say, a very conservative grandmother in a fluffy pink dress?"
"Definitely," said Anna. "But you have to be careful when using it with a person, because with a person it can mean 'too cool' or stuck up."
"Pimp?!" I hollered.
"It doesn't mean like that when you say it with the right context and intonation," said Anna confidently. "In Spain, you can also say 'guay' to mean 'cool.'"
"Gay?""No, 'guay,' pronounced like 'way,'" corrected Anna.
I chuckled, shook my head, and said, "Guay. Gracias por explicar. El espanol de Espana es muy chulo!"
Such are the joys of language.
Photo Note: All pictures in this article are from the lovely Monastery and Museum of Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain, which has one of the largest surviving cloisters in all of Europe. It also, incidentally, was nearly empty of tourists, in calming contrast to the sights in Barcelona's center.
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I believe the correct translation is http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pimpin%27
ReplyDeleteThat's so funny. I think each culture has a completely different set of words that are and aren't appropriate. I've wanted to visit Barcelona for so long, love reading about your time there :)
ReplyDeleteThen of course there is the difference in word choice when saying you are going to take the bus. Here in Spain the verb generally used is "coger," but if you go almost anywhere else they use "tomar," and the former word means something drastically different!
ReplyDeleteI was also confused at the beginning of the year when I first got asked if I lived in a "piso." It seemed to me as though they were referring to an entire floor of a building, until at last somebody explained that "piso" means apartment here!
The first time I visited Spain upon seeing "tortillas" on the menu; the crafty Californian ordered three tortillas for breakfast. The Waiter, shaking his head and uttering something about "crazy gringos", rushed to the kitchen. When the waiter returned to deliver my order, there before me were more eggs fluffed into omelets then I had ever seen. So much for my California Spanish. Tim
ReplyDeleteHilarious! I think I remember this about "chulo" when I was in Spain and got very confused about the whole concept.
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