Part III   Falta to Matrimonio

Falta "Missing" or "lacking". Me hace falta su sentido de humor = "I miss her sense of humor".  "Fault" is culpa. La culpa no fue mía = "It wasn’t my fault".

Familiar As an adjective, means "homelike", "plain", "simple". Una cocina familiar is an inexpensive restaurant, something like a diner or cafe. As a noun, familiar usually means a close friend.  For the English sense of "to be familiar with", use conocer or estar enterado de: un rostro conocido = "a familiar face"; está enterado del asunto = "he is familiar with the matter".

Fastidioso Does not mean "fastidious", which is melindroso or exigente, but means "annoying", "boring", or "tedious". Esa mujer es muy fastidiosa = "That woman is very bothersome".   Fastidiar means to "annoy" or to "bother". ¡No me fastidies! = "Don’t bother me!"

Firma Doesn’t mean "firm", but "signature". The most common single words for "firm" as an enterprise are compañía or empresa. Compañía is abbreviated Cía., pronounced "seeyah", which also happens to be the C.I.A.’s nickname in Latin America. "Firm" as an adjective meaning "steady" is firme.

Formal Generally means "proper", "sedate", "serious", not "formal". The construction de etiqueta is used for "formal": traje de etiqueta = "formal dress". Legend has it that John Wayne, who was married to a Mexican woman and loved Mexico, wanted to have his tombstone read: Feo, fuerte y formal = Ugly, strong and serious. A Latin girl will often break off a noviazgo (status of being boy/girl friends or fiances) because the boy isn’t formal, i.e. serious about pursuing the courtship to marriage.

Fracaso   Not a "fracas" in the English sense of a fight, but a failure.  Fracasar means "to fail", "to mess up".

Gabinete Primarily used to mean "cabinet" in reference to a government. A place to store things is an armario, a small corner cabinet is armarito rinconero, a display cabinet is aparador or vitrina. In Mexico, though, "kitchen cabinets" are gabinetes de cocina.

Gracioso In addition to "graceful", "gracious"; gracioso can also mean "funny", "amusing" or, very commonly, "cute". ¡Qué bebé tan gracioso! = "What a cute baby!"

Grosería Further confused by the fact than in Italian "grocería" means "grocery store", this ranks with embarazado as a classic false cognate. It actually means "coarseness", "crude or obscene action or speech". In Mexico, grocery store is tienda de abarrotes (or abarrotería); in Northern South America bodega; in the Southern countries almacén; in Spain abacería.   Likewise, a grocer is not a grosero (a crude, vulgar person), but an abacero or abarrotero.  Asking a Mexican ¿Dónde hay una grosería? will likely be met with bemusement, because  the Mexican will have heard "Where is there a dirty word?"

Honesto Does not mean "honest", but "decent", "modest’, "decorous". "Honest" is most correctly expressed by honrado. Even some Spanish speakers use honesto to mean ‘honest", as they do sincero. It is best to stick with honrado.

Ignorar To not know something. Ignore is no hacer caso. No le hice caso = "I ignored her".

Indio Yes, it does mean "Indian" in the sense of Native American. You do need to be careful, however, using this word as it can have a pejorative meaning (see Appendix B). The polite way to refer to the original inhabitants of the Americas is indígenas or gente indígena. 

Introducir   Do not use introducir when you mean "to introduce a person to another person".   Introducir means "introduce" only in the physical sense of "insert". Introduzca el tornillo en el agujero = "Insert the screw into the hole". For "introduce" in the common English sense, use presentar. Quiero presentarle al señor Molina. The embarrassment that a sentence like Quiero introducirle a la señora de Molina could cause can be easily imagined.

Jubilación   Retirement, pension. "Jubilation" is júbilo.

Labor   Has a much broader meaning than the English "labor". It can mean any kind of work, physical or mental. La labor de Lope de Vega = "Lope de Vega’s Works". Labor in the economic sense is trabajo: trabajo y capital = "labor and capital".

Largo   Long. Large is grande.

Lechero   Not a lecher, but the milkman. See lujurioso below. A "dirty old man" is a "viejo verde" or "viejo rabo verde".

Lectura   Means "reading"; "lecture" is conferencia.

Letra   Is a letter, but a letter of the alphabet. A letter you write home is a carta.

Librería   Bookstore. "Library" is biblioteca.

Lujuria   If you use it to mean "luxury", you could be embarrassed. It means "lust", "lewdness".  "Luxury" is lujo; "luxurious" is lujoso or de lujo.

Lujurioso   Means "lustful", "lewd", indecent". See lujuria.

Mama Without an accent (mamá) over the last "a" (mama), means mammary gland, breast. Mamá is an endearing form of madre, something like "mommy".

Maneras   Cannot be used to mean "social manners"; they are modales. Manera is a manner of doing something. Su manera de hablar = "His way of speaking". Sus modales son malos = "His manners are bad". Also, in the immortal words of the song, A mi manera = "My way".   Common expressions include: de ninguna manera = "by no means" "no way"; de todas maneras = "by all means".

Manzana   Means "apple", but also means "block" in the sense of a built-up city block. Calling New York City "The Big Apple" has been the subject of many tortured attempts at explanation by monolingual English speakers. The most reasonable origin of the term is that Spanish speakers (probably Puerto Ricans) started calling New York La gran manzana, meaning "The Big Block". Somebody who hadn’t gotten around to learning the second meaning of manzana translated it as "The Big Apple", and it stuck that way.

Marca   Brand name. There are many words which can be used for marks, usually denoting different kinds of marks. The most common are probably mancha ("spot") and huella.

Marco   Picture frame. See Marca above.

Masa  Can mean "mass" in the English sense, but a very common meaning is "dough", as dough for making bread or tortillas.

Matrimonio   The most common meaning is a "married couple". In Mexico, a double bed is a cama matrimonial. For "marriage" (wedding), use casamiento or boda.

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