Learn Spanish the way Diplomats do

An historical saying, false cognates,
and "Hi" vs. "Hello"

Sayings and Proverbs (Dichos y Refranes)

We have decided to have for our first "saying" one that has historical importance.

When the great Conquistador, Hernán Cortés (sometimes referred to as Hernando Cortez), heard that the Governor of Cuba had invalidated his license to conquer Mexico, and had sent another Captain to replace him, he departed Mexico City precipitously with most of his forces to counter this new threat. He left his impetuous second-in-command, Pedro de Alvarado, in charge in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), with near disastrous results, but that's another story. When Alvarado, in effect, asked Cortez "Why the rush?", Cortés answered with the old Spanish saying: "Cabra coja no tiene siesta"; loosely translated: "When you're in trouble you don't have time to fool around"; literal translation "A crippled goat can't take a rest."

By the way, for those who've only seen pictures of Cortés as an old(er) man, here is a portrait of him as a young man taken from a Spanish 10,000 peseta note.

False Cognates (Falsos Amigos):
For more detailed information about False Cognates, go here

One of the things that makes Spanish relatively easy for English-speakers to learn is that literally thousands of "cognates" [words which appear and sound very similar, and have the same or very similar meanings in different languages] exist between Spanish and English. In fact, there are so many cognates that when you are totally at a loss for a word, trying the English word with Spanish ending and pronunciation will work a surprising amount of the time.
The problem is that less than 200 "false cognates" exist; words which look and sound as if their meanings should be the same or very similar in the two languages, but which in reality are very different--sometimes embarrassingly so. That's why it's worth the trouble to learn the relatively few "false cognates, so that you can then use the rest with confidence that you won't be misunderstood or make a fool of yourself.

Embarazada(o). This is the classic of all false cognates, so we've decided to start with it. The temptation for an English speaker to think it must mean "embarrassed" is almost irresistible. While the two words doubtless come from the same Latin root, their meanings have diverged greatly. Embarazada is almost universally used in Mexico and Central America as a euphemism for "pregnant". (In South America, en cinta "in the belt," which comes from the French enceinte is often similarly used.) The real, direct Spanish word for "pregnant" is prenada, but it is seldom used except in reference to animals. For "embarrassed," use turbado or desconcertado, or the constructions dar(se) pena or dar(se) verguenza. For a man to say "Estoy embarazado" is not only a physical and linguistic impossibility, it has sexual overtones which can lead to hilarity at the expense of the unfortunate man who made the mistake. Also, a woman opens herself to sexual innuendo if she innocently uses this word wrongly.

Another classic mistake similar to a false cognate, but caused by translating literally from English, and one to which more than one gringa has fallen victim, is saying "estoy caliente" to express that "I'm feeling the heat". In Spanish, estoy caliente has sexual connotations (think of a female animal being "in heat"). To convey the meaning "I'm feeling the heat", you have to say tengo calor (I have heat). Well, it makes sense to Spanish speakers.....

Saying "Hello" isn't that simple
Some dictionaries will give "¡Hola!" as the translation for "Hello!". Unfortunately, that's not really accurate. "¡Hola!" translates much better as "Hi!", and is not always an appropriate greeting, particularly in a situation where the least amount of formality is called for--and Latin society in general is much more formal than ours. For instance greeting a stranger (in most cases) with "¡Hola!" would be inappropriate. "¡Hola!" implies a degree of equality and familiarity which can be resented in some circumstances.

The best way around this potential problem is to remember that Spanish has no equivalent of the value-neutral, all-purpose English "Hello." Using the appropriate greeting for the time of day: "Buenos Dias" (Good Morning); "Buenas Tardes" (Good Afternoon); and "Buenas Noches" (Good Evening, Good Night) will always be appropriate and never give offense. In this, as in so many other culture/language situations, it is always well to take your cue from the person you're talking to. If he/she says "¡Hola!", it's certainly all right for you to respond in kind.

Another classic false cognate, and one to which more than one gringa has fallen victim, is saying "estoy caliente" to express that I'm feeling the heat. In Spanish, estoy caliente has sexual connotations (think of a female animal being "in heat"). To convey the meaning "I'm feeling the heat", you have to say tengo calor (I have heat). Well, it makes sense to Spanish speakers.....