2000_ata annual conf proceedings_kids stuff (games, etc.)_moskowitz
DESCRIPTION
Paper on how names of games, play structures and other children-related items vary by Spanish-speaking country.TRANSCRIPT
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(From “Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: kids’ stuff” by Andre Moskowitz in Proceedings
of the 41st Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Orlando, Florida,
U.S.A., September 20-23, 2000. Thomas L. West III, comp. American Translators Association,
2000. 328-366. The original publication from the Proceedings included illustrations of many of
the items which, unfortunately, do not appear in this file.)
TOPICS IN SPANISH LEXICAL DIALECTOLOGY: KIDS’ STUFF
Andre Moskowitz
Keywords: Games, Pastimes, School, Spanish, Regionalisms, Terminology, Dialectology,
Lexicography, Sociolinguistics.
Abstract: This paper presents information on the regional Spanish-language names of games,
pastimes, and playground devices, as well as school and other terminology related to children.
0 INTRODUCTION
There are many games, pastimes, playground devices and school-related phenomena that have
different names in different regions of the Spanish-speaking world. For example, people in
Bogotá, Colombia call the game of ‘hopscotch’ golosa whereas in Mexico City the same game is
called avión. In cases where regional variation in terminology has been noted, this paper seeks to
provide information on which terms are used where.
This article, and the series of articles by the author on Spanish lexical dialectology that have
previously appeared in Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the American Translators
Association, 1995-19991, also seek to promote the view that all varieties of Spanish are merely
varieties, no more and no less, and to dispel the notion, held by many, that the Spanish of Castilla
is the primary and privileged form of the language and that all others are substandard, divergent
variants. By presenting a series of pastels or chromatic scales of Spanish regionalisms, the author
wishes to both explore and celebrate Hispanic diversity.
The emphasis of this article is not on children-related phenomena that exist only in certain
regions, but on ones that are common in many Spanish-speaking countries. The word “item” will
be used to refer to the particular phenomenon that is addressed in each of the paper’s sixteen
sections.
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The material is catalogued under two general headings (“Fun & Games” and “School &
Miscellaneous”), and the title of each section is the item’s common name(s) in United States
English.
A) Fun & Games: 1) balloon, 2) car(r)ousel or merry-go-round, 3) Ferris wheel, 4) hopscotch, 5)
jacks, 6) kite, 7) marbles, 8) seesaw or teeter-totter, 9) slide, 10) slingshot, 11) swing, 12)
ticktacktoe / tic(k)-tac(k)-toe.
B) School & Miscellaneous: 1) cheat-sheet, 2) homework, 3) to play hooky, 4) school year.
Illustrations2 of many of the items are provided, and each section is divided into three
subsections:
1) Terms by Country
2) Details
3) Real Academia Regional Review
0.1 Terms by Country
These subsections consist of lexico-geographic tables in which the terms used in the Spanish-
speaking regions of peninsular Spain and the nineteen Spanish-speaking countries of the Western
Hemisphere are presented. Since the countries are arranged in a geographical order, they often
highlight ‘lexico-geographic blocs,’ or groups of countries that are in geographic proximity and
also share the same lexical usage for a given item.
The information on each item was obtained from between ten and sixty native speakers of
Spanish from each country, by one or several of the following methods:
1) through observation in the countries themselves;
2) by showing informants the item, or a picture of the item, or by giving them a
description of the item (sometimes using pantomime) and asking them to give the term
most commonly used in their region for it; and,
3) by asking informants who are highly proficient in English to give the equivalents of
English language terms that are used in their native regions.
The number of people from each country that was queried on each item varied for two reasons.
First, the author attempted to collect more data for items such as ‘hopscotch’ and ‘slingshot’ that
have many different names within individual countries, and less data for items such as ‘carousel’
and ‘slide’ that show little regional variation within countries. Basically, if the first ten or fifteen
informants gave identical answers, the author was less eager to press on than in cases where the
initial responses were all over the chart. The second reason for the discrepancies in the amount of
data collected is merely logistical. It was relatively easy for the author, who lives in the San
Francisco Bay Area of the United States, to find and question forty or fifty individuals from
some Spanish-speaking countries, such as Mexico, and more difficult to come up with even ten
respondents from others, such as Paraguay.
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Following each Spanish-language term, a numerical proportion is given indicating the number of
informants out of the total who used a particular term or gave it as their response to a question.
Thus, in the first table, ‘balloon,’
GUATEMALA vejiga (14/18), globo (6/18).
is to be interpreted as, “Of the eighteen Guatemalans who were observed referring to a ‘balloon’
or were asked to give the term they used for this item, fourteen gave or used the term vejiga and
six the term globo” (several people said both terms were used). In many cases, the people
interviewed indicated that more than one term was commonly used in their homeland and,
therefore, the sum of the ratios frequently total more than one.
An effort was made to seek informants from each country who were from different regions and
were of different ages, genders, and socioeconomic classes, but how representative they are of
their entire nation or region is a question that can only be determined by research that tests much
larger numbers of people. However, the author is confident that further studies will show that the
usage indicated is typical for the region in question in the case of most of the terms that were
offered by at least eight out of ten participants.
In order to consolidate the information, the data for groups of countries is sometimes presented
in a single line with the use of categories such as Hispanic Central America (Panama, Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala), Hispanic Antilles (Cuba, the
Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico), Southern Cone (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and
Chile), and Rest of Spanish America (all Spanish-speaking Latin American countries that are not
listed in the table with an individual country specification).
When informants used or offered several very similar variants, words or letters appear in
parentheses or separated by slashes. Thus, where trúca(me)lo appears in subsection A4.1
(‘hopscotch’), informants indicated that both trúcamelo and trúcalo are used.
It should be noted that in more formal situations some educated Spanish speakers try to avoid
using the terms that are most common in their own region__
terms like vejiga, papalote and
maules__
because they perceive them as being regional, national, lower-class (popular or
populachero) or anglicisms, and opt to use terms that they believe sound more international,
proper, or “pure” Spanish (castizo), such as globo, cometa and canicas, respectively__
terms
which not coincidentally are the ones used in standard Peninsular Spanish. Although the
preferences speakers exhibit may be the result of local linguistic customs, the choice of words
can also serve as a badge with which they consciously display their sociocultural identity.
0.2 Details
In these subsections more detailed information is provided on the usage of particular regions, and
on international and national standards, where applicable. All place-names that are both cities
and provinces refer to provinces. Unfortunately, information on the respondents’ places of origin
is not always complete. In some cases, for example, the person’s country or general region of the
country is known, but his or her specific province or town is not known.
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0.3 Real Academia Regional Review
These subsections present an evaluation of the 1992 edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua
Española (the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary), henceforth referred to as the “Spanish Royal
Academy Dictionary” or, simply, the “Dictionary”. Its coverage of the regional usages described
in this article is evaluated using the following grading scale:
A Corresponding definition, correct regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary
defines the term as used in the section of this article and correctly indicates the countries
and/or regions in which the term is used in this sense.
B Corresponding definition, incorrect regions. This grade is given when the Dictionary
defines the term as used in the section and specifies a region or regions but does not
specify them correctly. Its definition either fails to include regions in which the usage
occurs or includes regions where the usage does not occur. However, the grade of B is
raised to an A if the Dictionary’s definition is appropriate, “Amér.” (América, that is,
Spanish-speaking Latin America) is specified in the definition, and the term is used in ten
or more (over 50%) of the nineteen Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.
C Corresponding definition, no regions specified. This grade is given when the Dictionary
defines the term as used in the section but does not specify any countries or regions in
which the term is used in this sense. In essence, it fails to identify the usage as regional.
However, the grade of C is raised to an A if the term is used in at least ten of the twenty
Spanish-speaking countries (at least 50% of them).
D No corresponding definition. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not include in
its definition of the term a sense that corresponds to the section.
F Term not in dictionary. This grade is given when the Dictionary does not list the term at
all.
In the case of compound terms, all components were tested and the grade assigned corresponds
to that of the component that has the most complete information. For example, “equis cero (F)”
means that the term equis cero does not appear in the Dictionary under equis or under cero.
When a term is used in some regions of a country but not others, the Dictionary is given the
highest possible grade if it correctly lists the country. For example, it receives an A in the case of
golosa (‘hopscotch’)__
which is defined as “Col. infernáculo”__
even though there are many
regions of Colombia where golosa is not used in this sense. Some grades appear with a question
mark because the author is not sure which of the above categories the corresponding definition
falls under.
The purpose of this evaluation is to expose gaps and inconsistencies in specific definitions in the
hope that they will be modified in future editions of the Dictionary so that they accurately
describe usage in the Spanish-speaking world from an international perspective. At the very
least, the issues raised should be investigated by the Dictionary’s researchers.
The fact that so many regionalisms are included in the Dictionary leads one to believe that the
Spanish Royal Academy generally favors including them, and this view is supported by
Professor Manuel Alvar who states that:
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La Academia pensó siempre en allegar provincialismos a su repertorio, desde los
días mismos de su constitución. (Alvar 51).
From the time of its inception, the Academy always intended to include
regionalisms in its repertoire. (Author’s translation.)
However, while many regionalisms are probably not included in the Dictionary simply because
the editors are unaware of their existence, others may have been deliberately omitted. Over half a
century ago, Professor Julio Casares made the following comment that, even today, may reflect
the Spanish Royal Academy’s attitude regarding lexicographical censorship.
Hay que tener presente, y lo olvidaron con frecuencia los lexicógrafos
americanos, que la Academia deja de incluir muchas voces no porque ignore su
existencia ni porque dude de que son de uso corriente, sino porque las considera
espurias, mal formadas, superfluas, perjudiciales, cacofónicas, etc. (Casares
302).
One must bear in mind, and Latin-American lexicographers have often forgotten
this, that the Academy does not include many words not because it is unaware of
their existence, nor because it doubts their use is commonplace, but rather because
it considers them to be spurious, ill-formed, superfluous, detrimental,
cacophonous, etc. (Author’s translation.)
Do many members of the Spanish Royal Academy still believe in a two-caste system in which
there are “proper” words that are worthy of being included in a serious dictionary, and “inferior”
words that should not be afforded any official lexicographical recognition?
One factor that influences whether or not a term is included in any Spanish-language dictionary,
is whether or not the word is considered “Spanish”. An important question for Spanish
lexicographers is, therefore, how should “Spanish” be defined, that is, what words count as
Spanish? For example, if words such as michi (‘ticktacktoe’), tukã’e (‘tag’), charranca
(‘hopscotch’), and yax (‘jacks’) can also be considered Quechua/Quichua, Guaraní, Catalán, and
English, respectively, does that mean they should not be considered Spanish? No doubt many
members of the Spanish Royal Academy take this view and believe these words have no
business being included in a Spanish-language dictionary. However, since all Spanish words
ultimately derive from some foreign source, be it Indo-European, Basque, Greek, Latin, Iberian,
French, etc., word origin alone is not what determines a term’s Spanishness.
Is it the case that members of the Royal Academy__
and Spanish speakers in general__
are less
comfortable accepting as Spanish, words that are easily identified as coming from less
traditional, and often more recent sources such as Quechua, Guaraní, Catalán, and English? This
seems to be especially true when, as many language purists would say, “a perfectly good Spanish
word already exists” and there is “no need to resort to the extranjerismo (foreign term)”. The
problem is that while a term such as tres en raya (‘ticktacktoe’) may be “perfectly good” for
millions of Spanish speakers, it is not the one most Spanish speakers from Peru actually use in
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this sense. In fact, Spanish speakers from most Latin American countries use a term other than
tres en raya when referring to this game. (In many cases, the term used consists of elements of
traditionally Spanish stock such as gato or equis cero.) Similarly, in the regions where tukã’e,
charranca and yax are used in the sense of ‘tag,’ ‘hopscotch’ and ‘jacks,’ respectively, they are
the terms for these items. This author believes that any word that is used by millions of native
speakers of the language is Spanish and should be defined in Spanish-language dictionaries. The
practical, lexicographical question of what counts as a Spanish word is, of course, related to the
linguistic issue of when an utterance counts as Spanish and when it qualifies as something else.
As the Spanish language’s international standard and national and regional varieties continue to
evolve and compete in the 21st century and beyond, the issue of what is Spanish__
and therefore
what should be included in Spanish-language dictionaries__
will be a key question lexicographers
will have to address.
A FUN & GAMES
A1 BALLOON
A1.1 Terms by Country (5 terms)
SPAIN globo (20/20).
MEXICO globo (21/30), bomba (9/30).
GUATEMALA vejiga (14/18), globo (6/18).
EL SALVADOR vejiga (12/16), globo (4/16), chira (2/16).
HONDURAS vejiga (8/18), globo (7/18), chira (4/18), bomba (3/18).
NICARAGUA chimbomba (10/10).
COSTA RICA bomba (10/13), globo (4/13).
PANAMA globo (12/12).
CUBA globo (15/15).
DOMIN. REP. vejiga (10/12), globo (3/12).
PUERTO RICO bomba (14/16), vejiga (3/16).
VENEZUELA bomba (11/20), globo (8/20), vejiga (3/20).
COLOMBIA bomba (20/22), globo (5/22).
ECUADOR vejiga (9/19), globo (7/19), bomba (6/19).
PERU globo (20/20).
BOLIVIA globo (14/16), vejiga (2/16).
SOUTHERN CONE globo (at least 10/10 for each country).
A1.2 Details
General: Globo can be considered the international standard term in that it is recognized and
understood by educated Spanish speakers throughout the Spanish-speaking world. In
most tropical Spanish-speaking countries, however, another term__
usually bomba or
vejiga__
is more commonly used in the generic sense. Bomba is also used in many places
to refer to balloons filled with water.
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Mexico: Globo appears to be used throughout Mexico, but bomba was offered by people from
Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Puebla and Sinaloa. Where else is bomba commonly used?
El Salvador & Honduras: Is chira commonly used in this sense in certain regions, and, if so,
where? In Honduras, where is bomba commonly used?
Venezuela: Vejiga was given by people from Zulia.
Ecuador: Are there regional preferences among bomba, globo and vejiga?
Bolivia: Vejiga was given by people from Santa Cruz.
A1.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Bomba (D), chimbomba (F), chira (D), globo (A), vejiga (D).
A2 CAROUSEL (also spelled carrousel) or MERRY-GO-ROUND
A2.1 Terms by Country (5 terms plus variants)
SPAIN tiovivo (19/25), caballitos (10/25), carrusel (6/25).
MEXICO carrusel (19/30), caballitos (8/30), volantín (5/30).
GUATEMALA carrusel (14/18), (rueda de) caballitos (6/18).
EL SALVADOR carrusel (7/12), (rueda de) caballitos (7/12).
HONDURAS (rueda de) caballitos (8/12), carrusel (5/12).
NICARAGUA (rueda de) caballitos (7/11), carrusel (4/11).
COSTA RICA caballitos (9/15), carrusel (7/15).
PANAMA carrusel (8/12), caballitos (5/12).
CUBA (feria de) caballitos (8/12), carrusel (5/12).
DOMIN. REP. caballitos (7/10), carrusel (4/10).
PUERTO RICO caballitos (11/18), machina (6/18), carrusel (4/18).
VENEZUELA carrusel (12/14), caballitos (5/14).
COLOMBIA carrusel (14/15), caballitos (1/15).
ECUADOR carrusel (13/13).
PERU carrusel (14/20), caballitos (6/20).
BOLIVIA carrusel (14/15), caballitos (1/15).
PARAGUAY calesita (10/11), carrusel (1/11).
URUGUAY calesita (15/15).
ARGENTINA calesita (29/30), carrusel (5/30).
CHILE carrusel (13/13), caballitos (3/13).
A2.2 Details
General: The item in question is the large, electrically-powered ‘carousel’ or ‘merry-go-round,’
not the small one children (and adults) push off on for it to go around. A number of
people from countries other than Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina indicated that
caballitos or rueda de caballitos is the term that kids use whereas the other term (tiovivo
or carrusel) is the more “official” term. The above chart simplifies the survey responses
somewhat in that a number of variants of carrusel, such as carrousel, carrosel and
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carusel, were offered both in speech and writing, as well as variation between diminutive
and non-diminutive forms for caballos/caballitos and rueda de caballos/rueda de
caballitos (the diminutive form is more common in both cases). Carrusel de caballitos,
which can be considered a variant of carrusel or of caballitos, was also offered by a few
respondents.
Spain: Some people indicated that carrusel is the word used by adults and caballitos and tiovivo
are the words used by children, but the majority stated that tiovivo was the word most
commonly used by all.
Mexico: Volantín was given by people from Jalisco, Nayarit and Zacatecas.
Puerto Rico: Machinas, in the plural form, refer to amusement park rides in general, and often to
non-permanent rides that are set up for a particular fiesta patronal (patron saint holiday)
and then dismantled and relocated elsewhere. Several Puerto Ricans also indicated that in
the singular form, la machina refers specifically to the ‘carousel’ while others indicated
that it can also refer to the ‘Ferris wheel’ (see section A3).
Paraguay, Uruguay & Argentina: Written and spoken variants of calesita such as calecita and
calisita were also offered. Calesita comes from calesa which derives from French
calèche (‘calash,’ a type of carriage), but what explanation can be given for the use of
calesita in this region? Several older Argentines indicated that carrusel refers to a larger,
more sophisticated carousel with horses that move up and down, whereas calesita refers
to a smaller carousel in which the horses merely revolve but do not move in a vertical
plane (as well as to the manual merry-go-round found in playgrounds). The vast majority
of Argentines, however, stated that calesita is the only term used for all motorized
carousels. It is possible that, in Argentina, the above distinction between calesita and
carrusel used to be made a generation ago but has since been lost with the term calesita
taking over both functions. Do any Paraguayans or Uruguayans make a distinction
between calesita and carrusel?
The small, manual ‘merry-go-round’: This item was not researched extensively, but how
common is it in the different regions of the Spanish-speaking world and what is it called?
Quite a few people from different Spanish-speaking countries indicated it is not very
common in public parks. Others, however, said the same terms presented in subsection
A2.1 above for the (motorized) carousel are also applied to the manual merry-go-round,
but rueda (Venezuela) and ruleta (Puerto Rico) were also offered in the latter sense.
A2.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Caballitos (A?), calesita (B?), carrusel (A?), rueda de caballitos (F), machina (D),
tiovivo (C?), volantín (D).
Caballitos, calesita and carrusel are all cross-referenced to tiovivo which is defined as
“Recreo de feria que consiste en varios asientos colocados en un círculo giratorio.” Does this
definition adequately describe the mechanical and/or manual merry-go-round? Compare it to the
American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of “merry-go-round”: “1. A revolving circular
platform fitted with seats, often in the form of animals, ridden for amusement. 2. A piece of
playground equipment consisting of a small circular platform that revolves when pushed or
pedaled.” The Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary’s definition seems to fall short of the mark. It
should accurately describe and clearly distinguish the two types of merry-go-round.
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A3 FERRIS WHEEL
A3.1 Terms by Country (c. 10 terms plus variants)
SPAIN noria (17/17).
MEXICO rueda de la fortuna (13/13).
REST OF HISPANIC CENTRAL AMERICA rueda (de) Chicago (at least 10/10 for each country).
PANAMA estrella (7/10), rueda (de Chicago) (3/10).
CUBA estrella (10/10).
DOMIN. REP. estrella (10/10).
PUERTO RICO estrella (11/13), machina (3/13).
VENEZUELA rueda (5/11), (viaje a la) luna (4/11), rueda de la fortuna
(3/11).
COLOMBIA rueda (de) Chicago (11/11).
ECUADOR rueda moscovita (10/10).
PERU rueda (de) Chicago (10/11), rueda de la fortuna (1/11).
BOLIVIA rueda (de) Chicago (8/12), rueda giratoria (3/12), rueda de
la fortuna (1/12).
PARAGUAY rueda (de) Chicago (10/10).
URUGUAY rueda gigante (11/11).
ARGENTINA vuelta al mundo (17/22), rueda de la fortuna (3/22), rueda
gigante (3/22).
CHILE rueda (8/10), rueda de Chicago (3/10).
A3.2 Details
General: In most countries, the term used has rueda as its base and a modifier such as de
Chicago or de la fortuna, etc. added; the exceptions are Argentina, the Hispanic Antilles,
Panama and Spain where non-rueda terms predominate. For the sake of brevity, the terms
are presented in the above chart without an article, even though the definite article is
usually included (la noria, la rueda moscovita, la vuelta al mundo, etc.).
Puerto Rico. Is machina commonly used in this sense? See subsection A2.2, Puerto Rico.
Uruguay: Is the term rueda gigante a calque of the British English term “big wheel” (“Ferris
wheel” in United States English), or did the Uruguayans coin their term independently?
Variants of rueda de Chicago: A number of variants are used such as rueda Chicago, rueda
Chicagua, rueda Chicao and chicao, especially in Hispanic Central America. The term
rueda de Chicago was coined because the first Ferris wheel, invented by the American
engineer George Washington Gale Ferris, was set up in Chicago during the world’s fair
of 1893 (Soukhanov 673).
A3.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Estrella (D), luna (D), machina (D), noria (D), rueda (D), rueda Chicago (F), rueda de
Chicago (F), rueda de la fortuna (D), rueda gigante (F), rueda giratoria (F), rueda moscovita
(F), vuelta al mundo (F).
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What explanation can be given for the fact that the Dictionary provides no definition for
this item under any of the terms encountered in this study, including noria, the term used in
Spain? How should the term be defined in the Dictionary? A rough Spanish translation of the
American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of “Ferris wheel” is: En los parques de diversiones,
rueda grande, montada sobre un eje horizontal, cuyos asientos colgantes permanecen
horizontales mientras gira la rueda.
A4 HOPSCOTCH
A4.1 Terms by Country (c. 60 terms plus variants)
SPAIN avión (3/60), carabañola (1/60), cascallo (5/60), castro (2/60), cielo (1/60),
chancla (1/60), chapa (1/60), charranca (3/60), china (1/60), descanso (1/60),
imbo cachimbo (1/60), juego de la cruz (1/60), lunes (2/60), mariola (1/60),
muñeca (1/60), pata coja/paticoja (4/60), piedra (1/60), piso (1/60), pite (1/60),
rayuela (6/60), rola/role (1/60), semana (2/60), sambori (3/60), tejo (6/60), toco
(1/60), tranco (1/60), truco (1/60), truque (7/60), truquemé (1/60), turco (1/60),
unela (1/60), zancarrilla (1/60).
MEXICO avión/avioncito (16/50), bebeleche (12/50), bembeleche (1/50), bimbalete (1/50),
chácara (1/50), gigante (2/50), mamaleche (3/50), mambaleche (1/50), muñeco
(1/50), peleche (6/50), pelenche (1/50), peregrina/pelegrina (4/50), la tabla (1/50),
tembereche (1/50).
GUATEMALA avión/avioncito (14/14).
EL SALVADOR peregrina (10/18), pelegrina (5/18), avión (5/18).
HONDURAS rayuela (13/13).
NICARAGUA rayuela (11/11).
COSTA RICA rayuela (14/14).
PANAMA rayuela (12/14), hopscotch (3/14).
CUBA pon (8/20), arroz con pollo (3/20), tacha (3/20), tejo (3/20), pata coja/cojita (2/20),
machicha (1/20), muñeco (1/20), peregrina (1/20), ponso (1/20).
DOMIN. REP. trúca(me)lo (12/25), trúcano (4/25), muñeco (4/25), pelegrina/peregrina (2/25),
pateco (1/25), tablita (1/25).
PUERTO RICO peregrina (13/18), pelegrina (5/18).
VENEZUELA avión/avioncito (12/23), semana (10/23), (un-dos-tres) pisé (7/23), descanso
(2/23).
COLOMBIA golosa (14/28), rayuela (8/28), peregrina (4/28), semana (1/28), tángara (1/28).
ECUADOR rayuela (19/20), semanita (1/20).
PERU mundo (19/25), rayuela (5/25), plij-plaj (1/25), zarzuela (1/25).
BOLIVIA rayuela (6/17), tuncuña (6/17), coscoja (3/17), coscojo (2/17), escalera (2/17),
mundo (1/17).
PARAGUAY descanso (11/13), rayuela (4/13).
URUGUAY rayuela (16/16).
ARGENTINA rayuela (20/24), tejo (3/24), luche (1/24).
CHILE luche (14/14).
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A4.2 Details
General: The terms presented above refer to any of various different games that are similar to
‘hopscotch’. The drawing made on the ground often varies in shape and the way in which
the boxes are labeled, whether with numbers or words (such as the days of the week), but
the games’ basic mechanisms and objectives remain the same. The above terms are also
abbreviated forms since in actual usage, the article is often included__
i.e. el luche, la
rayuela, el sambori, etc.__
and verbs and the preposition a can be considered part of the
name, i.e. jugar a la peregrina, saltar a la pata coja, etc. Many educated speakers
throughout the Spanish-speaking world, even those who do not know the local name for
the game in their own region, are familiar with the term rayuela. This is probably due in
part to the popularity of the novel by the same name by Julio Cortázar, the famous
Argentine writer, and to the fact that rayuela is used in this sense in parts of at least
twelve Spanish-speaking countries.
Spain: The following terms were given by people from specific regions: avión, Madrid;
carabañola and cascallo/cascayo, Asturias; castro and chancla, Alicante; charranca,
Barcelona; china, Pamplona; descanso, Aragón; imbo cachimbo, Madrid; lunes, León;
mariola, Galicia; pata coja/paticoja, Granada, Salamanca; piedra, Castilla; piso,
Tarragona; pite, Salamanca; rayuela, Galicia, León, País Vasco, Salamanca, Zaragoza;
semana, Santiago; sambori, Valencia; tejo, Alicante, Andalucía, Islas Canarias, Galicia,
Madrid; toco, País Vasco; truco, Ourense (in Galicia); truque, Castilla, Cuenca, León;
truquemé, Bilbao; turco, Andalucía; unela, Castilla; zancarrilla, Aragón. Should the
Asturian term cascallo/cascayo be written with an ll or a y? Does it have the same origin
as Spanish cascajo? If so, then cascallo would appear to be the “correct” spelling, but it
was not possible to tell based on pronunciation since none of the Asturianos who gave
this term exhibited any lleísmo; that is, they pronounced ll and y the same way.
Mexico: The following terms were given by people from the following regions: avión/avioncito,
Distrito Federal, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit,
Puebla, Quintana Roo (in the Yucatan), Sonora, Veracruz; bebeleche, Coahuila, Colima,
Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tijuana, Torreón, Veracruz,
Zacatecas; mamaleche, Chichuahua; chácara, Quintana Roo; gigante, Guanajuato;
muñeco, Guerrero; peleche and pelenche, Michoacán. Perhaps mambaleche, bembeleche,
peleche, pelenche and tembereche can be considered phonetic variants of bebeleche or
mamaleche.
Panama: Hopscotch, pronounced as if written jop(e)scoch, was given by people from the former
Canal Zone.
Colombia: The following terms were given by people from specific regions: golosa, Boyacá,
Cundinamarca, Huila, Santander (much of the eastern interior); rayuela, Antioquia,
Riseralda, Valle (much of the western interior); peregrina, the Costa (Atlantic coast
region); semana, Pasto; tángara, Santander.
Ecuador: Rayuela was given by people from practically all regions of the country but semanita
was given by one person from Cuenca.
Peru: Mundo is used in many parts of the country, including Lima. Rayuela was given by people
from the North (Trujillo, Piura), but another person from Piura gave zarzuela. Plij-plaj
was given by a person from Abancay (Department of Apurímac).
12
Bolivia: Tuncuña was given by people from La Paz; rayuela by people from Santa Cruz and
Tarija but also by people from La Paz; coscoja and coscojo by people from Cochabamba;
escalera was also given by people from La Paz; mundo by a person from Santa Cruz.
Argentina: Rayuela is used in most of the country, but tejo was given by people from La Rioja,
Santa Fe and Córdoba, and luche was given by one person from Mendoza.
A4.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Arroz con pollo (F), avión (D), avioncito (F), bebeleche (F), bembeleche (F), bimbalete
(D), carabañola (F), cascallo (F), cascayo (F), castro (D), cojita (F), coscoja (D), coscojo (D),
chácara (D), chancla (D), chapa (D), charranca (F), china (D), descanso (F), escalera (D),
gigante (D), golosa (A), hopscotch (F), imbo cachimbo (F), jopescoch (F), luche (A), lunes (D),
machicha (F), mamaleche (F), mambaleche (F), mariola (F), mundo (D), muñeca (D), muñeco
(D), pata coja (C or D?), pateco (F), paticoja (D), peleche (F), pelegrina (F), pelenche (F),
peregrina (D), pisé (F), piso (D), plij(-)plaj (F), pon (F), ponso (F), rayuela (A or C?), sambori
(F), semana (C), semanita (F), tabla (D), tablita (F), tacha (D), tángara (F), tarea (D), tejo (D),
tembereche (F), toco (D), tranco (D), trúcalo (F), trúcamelo (F), trúcano (F), truco (D), truque
(C), truquemé (F), tuncuña (F), un dos tres pisé (F).
The following terms are defined as follows: infernáculo, “Juego que consiste en sacar,
saltando sobre un pie, un tejo de un trazado en el suelo”; rayuela, “3. Juego de muchachos que
consiste en sacar de varias divisiones trazadas en el suelo un tejo al que se da con un pie,
llevando el otro en el aire y cuidando de no pisar las rayas y de que el tejo no se detenga en
ellas”; a la pata coja (under pata), “Juego con el que los muchachos se divierten, llevando un pie
en el aire y saltando con el otro”; coroneja, “Murc. rayuela, juego que consiste en andar a la
pata coja y sacar un tejo con el pie de ciertas divisiones trazadas en el suelo”; coxcojilla and
coxcojita, “rayuela, juego que consiste en andar a la pata coja y sacar un tejo con el pie de
ciertas divisiones trazadas en el suelo”; golosa, “Col. infernáculo”; luche, “Chile. Juego de la
raya semejante al infernáculo o calderón” (underlines added); calderón, “Ál. Juego de
muchachos parecido al de la tala” (underline added; Ál is an abbreviation of Álava, province in
north-central Spain); tala, “Juego de muchachos, que consiste en dar con un palo en otro
pequeño y puntiagudo por ambos extremos colocado en el suelo; el golpe lo hace saltar, y en el
aire se le da un segundo golpe que lo despide a mayor distancia”; reina mora (under reina),
“infernáculo”; semana, “6. fig. Una de las muchas variedades del juego del infernáculo”
(underline added); truque, “2. Una de las variedades del juego del infernáculo” (underline
added).
Infernáculo and the terms cross-referenced to it (golosa, luche, reina mora, semana and
truque) are defined slightly differently from rayuela and the terms cross-referenced to it
(coroneja, coxcojilla and coxcojita), and a la pata coja is not cross-referenced to either
infernáculo or rayuela. Can all of these games be considered synonyms and, if so, shouldn’t a
broad definition be devised that encompasses all of the different varieties? In that case, one term
should be chosen as the base term and given a full definition that covers all of the different
varieties of hopscotch, and given that rayuela has by far the most international recognition, it
would be the most logical candidate. All other terms should then be cross-referenced to rayuela
and defined as simply “variedad de la rayuela3, juego” with the appropriate regional designation
indicated, so that it will be clear to the reader that all of the terms are regional synonyms that
refer to varieties of essentially the same game.
13
The Dictionary also states that luche is a game called raya, but there is no definition for a
game by this name under raya. It then states that luche is similar to a game called calderón,
which, in turn it claims is similar to a game called tala, but when the reader finally gets to the
definition for tala, it turns out to be a completely different game from the one Chileans call
luche, a variety of ‘hopscotch’. Where are coxcojilla, coxcojita, infernáculo and reina mora used
in the sense defined? The Dictionary provides no regional specification for them and no
information on their use was obtained in this study.
The Spanish Royal Academy clearly did not have its act together in coordinating this
effort. In fact, one must wonder whether it ever consulted with the academias correspondientes
in Spanish America regarding these games, or whether the latter provided the former with
accurate descriptions of local usage. As we shall see in other sections of this paper, the lack of
consistency in cross-referencing regional synonyms and standardizing their definitions is a
recurrent problem.
A5 JACKS
A5.1 Terms by Country (c. 4 terms plus variants)
SPAIN not common (10/10).
MEXICO matatena (22/30), yax(es) (4/30), pinyex(es) (2/30),
yaqui(s) (2/30).
GUATEMALA yax(es) (13/13).
EL SALVADOR yax(es) (10/10).
HONDURAS yax(es) (10/10).
NICARAGUA yax(es) (7/12), yac/yaque(s) (5/12), yaquis (2/12).
COSTA RICA yaxes (12/12).
PANAMA yax (11/11).
CUBA yaqui(s) (16/16).
DOMIN. REP. ya(s) (7/10), yax (3/10).
PUERTO RICO yax (13/13).
VENEZUELA yaqui(s) (12/12), yaquipón (2/12).
COLOMBIA yas (11/17), yax (6/17).
ECUADOR macateta (15/18), yax (3/18).
PERU yas(es) (13/21), yax(es) (7/21), pispís (2/21), pispicha
(1/21).
REST OF HISPANIC SOUTH AMERICA not common (at least 10/10 for each country).
A5.2 Details
General: The terms are listed in the above chart with phonetic spellings that indicate how
respondents pronounced the words. In most of the countries where this game is played,
the predominant term__
generally yas, yax(es) or yaqui(s)__
derives from English “jacks”.
The exceptions are Mexico and Ecuador where non-jack terms__
matatena and macateta,
respectively__
predominate.
14
Spain, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina & Chile: The game of ‘jacks’ does not appear to
be common in these countries, although many similar games, generally played with
pebbles, bones or marbles, are common. The following games were offered that are rough
equivalents of ‘knucklebones’ (a game played in ancient Greece by Ajax and Achilles
during a lull in the Trojan War!): Spain and Bolivia, taba or tabas; Paraguay, tiquichuela;
Uruguay and Argentina, payana; Argentina, aimenti, dinenti, tenenti and tinenti (these
appear to be derived from regional Italian dialects); Chile, payaya. If ‘jacks’ is played in
these countries (or if it is introduced in the future), is or will the game be called taba,
payana and payaya, etc., in the respective countries, or will it be called yax/yas?
Mexico: Matatena was given by people from practically every region of Mexico. However,
yaxes and yaqui were given by people from Nuevo León, Quintana Roo and Tamaulipas
and pinyex(es) was given by people from Sonora.
Peru: Yas and yax were given by people from many different regions of the country, both Costa
and Sierra, but those who gave pispís and pispicha were from the Sierra. One of them
also indicated that the phrase no sabe ni jugar pispís is commonly used in the sense of no
sabe nada (‘he/she knows nothing’).
A5.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Jacks (F), macateta (F), matatena (F), pinyex (F), pispicha (F), pispís (F), yaqui (F),
yaquipón (F), yas (F), yax (F), yaz (D).
Which term should be chosen as the base term to which all others would be cross-
referenced, and how should the base term be defined? A rough translation of the American
Heritage Dictionary’s definition of “jacks” is: Juego que se hace con un grupo de pequeñas
piezas metálicas de seis puntas y una pelotita cuyo objetivo es recoger las piezas en diferentes
combinaciones. Should the castillianized phonetic spellings yaquis, yas and yax be listed in the
dictionary, or should the anglicism jacks be listed, or should both be listed?
Juego de los cantillos is defined (under juego) as “El que juegan los niños con cinco
piedrecitas haciendo con ellas diversas combinaciones y lanzándolas a lo alto para recogerlas en
el aire al caer”. How should aimenti, dinenti, payana, payaya, tenenti, tinenti and tiquichuela be
defined in the Dictionary?
A6 KITE
A6.1 Terms by Country (c. 20 terms plus variants)
SPAIN cometa (25/25), cachirulo (3/25).
MEXICO papalote (20/30), cometa (6/30), güila/huila (4/30), pandorga (2/30),
papagayo (2/30), papelote (2/30).
GUATEMALA barrilete (17/17).
EL SALVADOR piscucha (16/16).
HONDURAS papelote (15/22) barrilete (6/22), cometa (2/22), palometa (1/22).
NICARAGUA lechuza (9/18), barrilete (6/18), cometa (3/18), palometa (2/18), papalote
(1/18), papelote (1/18).
COSTA RICA papalote (11/23), papelote (10/23), barrilete (3/23).
15
PANAMA cometa (14/16), pandero (1/16), papalote (1/16).
CUBA papalote (17/23), cometa (7/23), coronel (2/23).
DOMIN. REP. chichigua (15/15).
PUERTO RICO chiringa (18/18).
VENEZUELA papagayo (15/22), volantín (4/22), cometa (3/22), petaca (3/22), fuga
(1/22), samuraca (1/22).
COLOMBIA cometa (20/20).
ECUADOR cometa (20/20).
PERU cometa (20/20).
BOLIVIA volador (15/20), volantín (5/20), cometa (3/20).
PARAGUAY pandorga (12/13), barrilete (2/13).
URUGUAY cometa (16/21), pandorga (4/21), barrilete (3/21).
ARGENTINA barrilete (20/25), volantín (4/25), cometa (2/25), pandorga (2/25).
CHILE volantín (20/20).
A6.2 Details
General: The term cometa can be considered the international standard insofar as it is
recognized, and often used in this sense by educated speakers throughout the Spanish-
speaking world. However, it is the most commonly used term in only six countries:
Spain, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. In the remaining countries,
regional words for kite predominate.
Spain: Cometa was given by Spaniards from diverse regions of the country and is not regionally
weighted, but cachirulo was given by people from Valencia and Alicante.
Mexico: Papalote was given by Mexicans from diverse regions of the country and is not
regionally weighted, but the following other terms were given by people from specific
regions: güila/huila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas; pandorga, Veracruz; papagayo, Quintana
Roo.
Venezuela: Papagayo was given by people from many parts of the country; volantín by people
from Zulia and Mérida; petaca by people from Zulia; samuraca by one person from
Caracas.
Bolivia: Volador was given by people from the Altiplano and volantín by people from Santa
Cruz and Tarija (lowland Bolivia).
Uruguay: Cometa is the predominant term in Montevideo and the coastal region, but pandorga
was given by people from Salto (the northwestern part of the country).
Argentina: Barrilete is the predominant term in much of the country, but volantín was given by
people from San Juan and Santa Fe (northwestern Argentina) and pandorga by people
from Entre Ríos and Misiones (northeastern Argentina).
Names for special kinds of kites: What are all the names for special types of kites, where is each
name used, and what type of kite does each refer to?
A6.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Barrilete (D), cachirulo (A), cometa (A), coronel (A or D?), chichigua (D), chiringa
(D?), fuga (D), güila (D), huila (F), lechuza (D), palometa (D), pandero (C), pandorga (C),
16
papagayo (D), papalote (B), papelote (B), petaca (D), piscucha (F), pizcucha (F), samuraca (F),
volador (D), volantín (B).
The following terms are defined as follows: barrilete, “3. En algunas provincias, cometa
de forma hexagonal y más alta que ancha”; birlocha, “cometa, juguete que se eleva en el aire”;
coronel, “3. Cuba. Cometa grande”; chiringa, “Cuba y P. Rico. Volantín, cometa pequeña”;
milocha, “cometa, armazón de caña y papel o tela”; pájara, “cometa, armazón”; pandorga, “3.
Cometa que se sube en el aire”; pandero, “3. cometa, juguete de muchachos”; papelote, “Cuba.
papalote, juguete que se echa al aire para que vuele”; volantín, “4. Argent. (Cuyo), Cuba, Chile
y P. Rico. cometa que se echa al aire como juguete”. (“Cuyo” is the region of Argentina
consisting of the provinces of Mendoza, San Juan and San Luis.)
Why define these regional terms in such a haphazard way? Did different people write the
definitions without any coordination or cross-checking among them? Why not give cometa a full
definition, and just cross-reference all of the other regional terms that refer to non-specialized
kites to cometa and define them as simply “cometa, juguete” with the corresponding regional
labels?
Does coronel refer to a large kite in Cuba? The definition for chiringa states that this
term refers to a small kite in Cuba and Puerto Rico whereas the data collected in this study
indicate that chiringa is not used in Cuba and that it refers to kites in general in Puerto Rico, not
specifically to small kites. The definition for chiringa also implies that volantín is a small kite
which is contradicted by the findings of this study and by the Dictionary’s own definition for
volantín which states that it refers to a kite in general. Birlocha, milocha and pájara are also
defined as generic kites, but where are these terms used in this sense? The Dictionary provides
no regional specification for them and no information on their use was obtained in this study. It
is clear, however, that these terms are not used universally in this sense.
A7 MARBLES
A7.1 Terms by Country (c. 35 terms plus variants)
SPAIN canicas (26/30), boliches (4/30), bolas (3/30), bolindres (1/30), bolos (1/30),
chivas (1/30), pitos (1/30), pivitines (1/30).
MEXICO canicas (24/30), mosaicos (4/30), cayucos (2/30), bolitas (1/30), chibolas (1/30).
GUATEMALA cincos (13/15), canicas (3/15).
EL SALVADOR chibolas (16/20), canicas (3/20), maules (2/20).
HONDURAS maules (14/18), mables (3/18), canicas (2/18).
NICARAGUA chibolas (9/12), bolicas (1/12), bolitas (1/12), canicas (1/12), mables (1/12),
maules (1/12).
COSTA RICA bolinchas (10/14), canicas (9/14).
PANAMA bol(it)as (11/18), canicas (8/18), bolitas de guiñar (2/18), cristales (1/18), cuajaos
(1/18).
CUBA bol(it)as (19/23), canicas (2/23), balinas (1/23), balines (1/23), chinatas (1/23),
mechos (1/23).
DOMIN. REP. bol(it)as (9/13), bellugas/vellugas (5/13), canicas (2/13).
PUERTO RICO canicas (13/18), bolitas (3/18), bolas de corote (1/18), bolitas de yeco (1/18),
velludas (1/18).
17
VENEZUELA metras (18/18).
COLOMBIA bol(it)as (18/36), canicas (10/36), boliches (3/36), bolitas (de) uñita (3/36), bolas
chinas (2/36), maras (2/36), bolas de cristal (1/36), mollejones (1/36), pepas
(1/36), pinguas (1/36), piquis (1/36).
ECUADOR bol(it)as (22/28), canicas (5/28), bolillas (2/28), bolichas (1/28).
PERU bol(it)as (21/30), canicas (10/30), boliches (1/30), cristales (1/30), tiros (1/30),
ñocos (1/30), quinchos (1/30).
BOLIVIA cachinas (11/24) bol(it)as (7/24), canicas (6/24), pep(it)as (2/24), bolillas (1/24).
PARAGUAY bol(it)as (9/12), balitas (6/12).
URUGUAY bolitas (15/15).
ARGENTINA bolitas (30/36), balitas (3/36), canicas (2/36), bolillas (1/36), bolillos (1/36),
plomines (1/36).
CHILE bolitas (16/16).
A7.2 Details
General: The term canicas can be considered the international standard in that it is understood by
educated speakers throughout the Spanish-speaking world. However, it appears to be
commonly used by children in only six countries: Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama,
Puerto Rico, Colombia and Peru. In all others, bola, bolita or a regional term
predominate. Where bol(it)a is listed in the above chart, the diminutive form, bolita, is
generally more common than bola.
Spain: Canica was given by Spaniards from diverse regions of the country and is not regionally
weighted, but the following other terms were given by people from specific regions:
bolas, Alicante, Galicia; boliches, Islas Canarias; bolindres, Granada; bolos, Pamplona;
chivas, Zaragoza; pitos, León. Pivitines was given by a person from Asturias who
indicated that this is the word used in the Bable language, the singular form is pivitina
(not pivitín*), and the plural form, pivitines.
Mexico: Canica is used practically everywhere, but the following other terms were offered by
people from specific regions: mosaicos, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, Zacatecas;
bolitas, Sinaloa; chibolas, Chiapas; cayucos, Veracruz.
Panama: Bolas/bolitas and canicas are used practically everywhere, but cristales and cuajaos
were given by people from Chiriquí.
Cuba: Bolas/bolitas are used practically everywhere, but mechos and balinas were given by
people from the Oriente (the eastern part of Cuba); one person from Havana offered
chinatas.
Peru: One respondent indicated that ñoco is the hole you shoot the marble into in certain games
played with marbles, but another said it was the ‘marble’ itself.
Argentina: Balita was offered by people from San Juan; bolillas by a person from Entre Ríos;
and bolillo by a person from La Rioja. An older person from San Juan offered plomines;
and one person (region unknown) also indicated that mendocinas referred to glass
marbles (ones that are transparent as opposed to opaque).
Large/small marbles: The following terms were offered by people in the sense of marbles that
are larger or smaller than the standard size ones: bochón (Uruguay, large); bolonca
(Honduras, large); pepona (Venezuela, large); pinguita (Uruguay, small); pota (Bogotá,
Colombia, large); tincuyo (Abancay, Peru, large).
18
Names of games played with marbles: What are all the different names of games that are played
with marbles, where is each name used, and how is each game played?
A7.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Balín (D), balina (F), balita (D), barro (D), belluga (F), bola (A), bola china (F), bolicha
(F), boliche (D), bolilla (D), bolincha (F), bolindre (C), bolita (F), bolita de corote (F), bolita de
guiñar (F), bolita de yeco (F), bolo (D), cachina (F), canica (A), cayuco (D), cinco (D), cristal
(D), cuajao (F), chibola (D), chinata (D), chiva (D), mable (F), mara (F), maule (F), mecho (F),
metra (D), mollejón (D), mosaico (D), ojo de gato (D), pepa (D), pivitina (F), pota (D), quincho
(D), velluda (D), velluga (F).
Bolinche is defined as “Bolita para jugar; canica.”. Where is this term used in this sense?
A8 SEESAW or TEETER-TOTTER
Note: This item is also called “dandle board,” “teedle board,” “tilting board” and other names in
some regions of the United States (Soukhanov 1844).
A8.1 Terms by Country (c. 20 terms plus variants)
SPAIN balancín (20/35), subibaja (11/35), columpio (8/35).
MEXICO subibaja (25/40), bambilete (6/40), balancín (3/40), balanza (3/40),
bimbalete (2/40), chiquineo (1/40), pimbalete (1/40), regilete (1/40),
tambalín (1/40).
GUATEMALA subibaja (15/15).
EL SALVADOR subibaja (14/16), maroma (3/16).
HONDURAS subibaja (10/11), balim-balam (1/11).
NICARAGUA subibaja (11/11).
COSTA RICA subibaja (13/13).
PANAMA subibaja (9/15), tintibajo (7/15), tintiribajo (1/15).
CUBA cachumbambé (18/18).
DOMIN. REP. subibaja (11/11).
PUERTO RICO subibaja (12/13), burro (1/13).
VENEZUELA subibaja (18/18).
COLOMBIA subibaja (10/40), burro (8/40), balancín (7/40), balanza (7/40), machín-
machón (3/40), mataculín (3/40), balanceadero (1/40), gato (1/40) gatos
arriba (1/40), sonsón (1/40).
ECUADOR subibaja (15/26), guinguiringongo (11/26).
PERU subibaja (20/20).
BOLIVIA subibaja (16/16).
PARAGUAY subibaja (12/13), balancín (3/13).
URUGUAY subibaja (16/16).
ARGENTINA subibaja (23/24), maroma (2/24).
CHILE balancín (15/15).
19
C8.2 Details
General: The above chart simplifies the survey responses somewhat in that a number of variants
of subibaja, such as sube y baja and sube-baja, were offered both in speech and writing.
Subibaja and its variants are used in parts of almost all Spanish-speaking countries with
the possible exception of Cuba and Chile.
Spain: Are there regional preferences within Spain for balancín, subibaja/sube y baja and
columpio? All three terms were given by people from diverse regions.
Mexico: Subibaja seems to be used practically everywhere, but the following other terms were
given by people from specific regions: balancín, Jalisco, Nuevo León; balanza, Nuevo
León, Tamaulipas; bambilete, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán; bimbalete and pimbalete,
Jalisco, Querétaro; chiquineo, Nayarit; regilete, Hidalgo; tambalín, Guanajuato.
Bambilete, bimbalete and pimbalete can be considered phonetic variants of each other.
El Salvador: Maroma, according to several respondents, is a type of primitive seesaw found in
the countryside typically made from a log attached to a stump.
Colombia: Subibaja/sube y baja was given by people from diverse regions of the country,
including the interior and the Costa (Atlantic Coast region), but the following other terms
were given by people from specific regions: burro and balancín, Riseralda, Valle;
machín-machón, Santander; mataculín, Antioquia; gato or gatos arriba, Nariño; sonsón,
Antioquia.
Ecuador: Subibaja and its variants are used in the highlands, but guinguiringongo, and its
variants__
guinguirigongo, guinguilingongo and linguiringongo__
are the predominant
terms in Guayaquil where the following popular saying is heard: Guinguiringongo, pata
de longo, sube Panchito, y baja mondongo. (In Ecuadoran Spanish, longo is a pejorative
word meaning ‘indigenous person’ and, in Coastal Ecuadoran Spanish, it also refers
pejoratively to any ‘person from the Sierra, serrano’.)
Argentina: The two who gave maroma were from Mendoza and San Juan.
A8.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Balancín (D), balanza (D), balim-balam (F), bambilete (F), bimbalete (D), burro (D),
cachumbambé (F), columpio (D), chiquineo (F), gato (D), gatos arriba (F), guinguilingongo (F),
guinguirigongo (F), guinguiringongo (F), linguiringongo (F), machín-machón (F), maroma (D),
mataculín (F), pimbalete (F), regilete (F), sonsón (F), sube y baja (F), subibaja (F), tambalín (F),
tintibajo (F), tintiribajo (F).
What explanation can be given for the fact that the Dictionary has failed to provide a
definition for the item in question under any of the terms encountered in this study, including the
three terms given by Spaniards, balancín, subibaja/sube y baja and columpio? Have its editors
never played on a seesaw or observed others doing so, or did they just forget to include a
description of it in the Dictionary? It does include definitions of the Peninsular Spanish words
for ‘swing’ and ‘slide’ and, therefore, not defining ‘seesaw’ does not appear to be an intentional
act. Are seesaws much less common in Spain than swings and slides? This author had no
problem coming up with Spaniards who were familiar with and could name the seesaw.
20
A9 SLIDE
A9.1 Terms by Country (c. 18 terms plus variants)
SPAIN tobogán (20/20).
MEXICO resbaladilla (22/40), resbaladero (13/40), resbaladera (9/40).
GUATEMALA resbaladero (14/14).
EL SALVADOR deslizadero (13/20), deslizador (3/20), choyadero (2/20), tobogán (2/20).
HONDURAS deslizador (10/12), deslizadero (3/12).
NICARAGUA resbaladero (13/13).
COSTA RICA tobogán (11/11).
PANAMA zurra-zurra (10/15), zurradero (5/15), tobogán (2/15), resbalador (1/15).
CUBA canal (10/10).
DOMIN. REP. tobogán (5/10), not common (5/10).
PUERTO RICO chorrera (13/13).
VENEZUELA tobogán (14/14).
COLOMBIA rodadero (14/25), resbaladero (6/25), tobogán (5/25), deslizadero (2/25),
canoa (1/25).
ECUADOR resbaladera (13/15), tobogán (2/15), rodadera (1/15).
PERU resbaladera (17/24), tobogán (4/24), resbaladora (3/24), resbaladero
(1/24).
BOLIVIA resbalín (12/17), tobogán (5/17), resbalador (2/17).
PARAGUAY tobogán (10/10).
URUGUAY tobogán (15/15).
ARGENTINA tobogán (20/20).
CHILE re(s)falín (9/16), resbalín (5/16), tobogán (3/16).
A9.2 Details
General: Tobogán is the most frequently used term for generic slides in Spain, Costa Rica,
Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and possibly the Dominican Republic, but in
the remaining countries other terms__
generally derived from the verbs resbalar or
deslizar__
are more commonly used in this sense. Tobogán is also used in many countries
to refer to the large, curvy, water slides that are found in some amusement parks.
Mexico: Resbaladilla appears to be used in much of southern and central Mexico whereas
resbaladera and resbaladero appear to be used more in the North. Resbaladilla was
offered by people from the Distrito Federal, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán,
Morelos, Puebla, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas. Resbaladero was
offered by people from Baja California del Norte, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Jalisco,
Michoacán, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Sonora and Zacatecas. Resbaladera was given by
people from Colima, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán and Tamaulipas.
Panama: Opinions vary on whether the correct spelling is surra-surra or zurra-zurra. The same
applies to surradero vs. zurradero. Assuming the word derives from the verb zurrar, then
the z-forms would appear to be the “correct” spellings. In addition to the s vs. z question,
should the first pair be written with a hyphen or without, i.e. surra-surra/zurra-zurra or
surrasurra/zurrazurra? Panamanians also seem to be divided on this point.
21
Cuba: Canal, when used in this sense, is feminine (la canal).
Slang/vulgar words for ‘slide’: What regional slang and/or vulgar words are there for ‘slide’?
Several Chileans gave rascapoto or raspapoto (poto means ‘rear end’ in Chilean
Spanish). One Spaniard from Zaragoza also indicated that esbarizaculos is used there by
older people. The term comes from General Spanish culo (‘ass,’ ‘asshole’ in the
anatomical sense) and the verb esbarizar which is defined as “(Cruce de esbarar y
deslizar.) intr. Ar. [Aragón] resbalar.” Esbarar is defined as “resbalar”.
A9.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Canal (D), cholladero (F), choyadero (F), chorrera (D), deslizadero (D), deslizador (F),
esbarizaculos (F), rascapoto (F), raspapoto (F), refalín (F), resbaladera (F), resbaladero (D),
resbaladilla (F), resbalador (D), resbaladora (F), resbalín (F), resfalín (F), rodadera (F),
rodadero (D), surradero (F), surra-surra (F), tobogán (A), zurradero (F), zurra-zurra (F).
A10 SLINGSHOT
A10.1 Terms by Country (c. 40 terms plus variants)
SPAIN tirachinas (25/40), honda (6/40), tirador (6/40), tiragomas (3/40), tirabeque (1/40),
tirabolas (1/40), tiradera (1/40), tirapiedras (1/40).
MEXICO resortera (27/50), charpe (6/50), hulera (4/50), honda (3/50), tirahule (3/50),
flecha (2/50), horqueta (2/50), tirador (2/50), tiradora (2/50), estirador (1/50),
jaladera (1/50), negasura (1/50), parche (1/50), recua (1/50).
GUATEMALA honda (17/17).
EL SALVADOR hondilla (15/18), honda (4/18).
HONDURAS honda (10/10).
NICARAGUA tiradora (8/14), honda (5/14), hulera (5/14).
COSTA RICA flecha (9/15), resortera (8/15), honda (2/15).
PANAMA biombo (14/16), honda (2/16), resortera (2/16).
CUBA tirapiedra(s) (15/21), tiradera (5/21), flecha (3/21), tiraflechas (3/21).
DOMIN. REP. tirapiedra(s) (12/15), tirador (2/15), escopeta (1/15), goma (1/15), horqueta (1/15).
PUERTO RICO honda (18/21), tirabete (2/21), tiradeque (1/21), flecha (1/21).
VENEZUELA china (17/30), honda (9/30), fonda (3/30), tiratira (2/30), flecha (1/30), resortera
(1/30), tiragomas (1/30).
COLOMBIA cauchera (25/30), honda (5/30), flecha (2/30).
ECUADOR cata (4/38), catapulta (4/38), cauchera (2/38), cimbra (1/38), flecha (3/38),
gauchera (1/38), honda (2/38), horqueta (10/38), jebe (1/38), lanzadera (1/38),
liga (1/38), liguera (1/38), paica/pailca (4/38), resortera (3/38), tiradera (1/38),
tirajebe (2/38).
PERU honda (25/33), resortera (3/33), callampa (2/33), horqueta (2/33), estirador (1/33),
goma (1/33), guaraca/huaraca (1/33).
BOLIVIA flecha (10/21), honda (9/21), resortera (3/21).
PARAGUAY hondita (12/15), honda (4/15).
URUGUAY honda (18/20), gomera (2/20).
22
ARGENTINA honda (27/37), gomera (21/37).
CHILE honda (20/20).
A10.2 Details
General: The item in question is the Y-shaped device with an elastic strap, often used to kill
birds, (not the weapon David is believed to have used to kill Goliath which appears to be
honda everywhere).
Spain: Tirachinas was given by Spaniards from diverse regions of the country and does not
appear to be regionally weighted, but the following terms were offered by people from
specific regions: tirador, Galicia, Madrid; honda, Cataluña; tiragomas, León; tirabeque,
Pamplona; tirapiedras and tirabolas, Galicia; tiradera, Islas Canarias.
Mexico: Resortera seems to be used practically everywhere, but the following terms were given
by people from specific regions: charpe, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz; hulera, Distrito
Federal, Hidalgo, Nuevo León; honda, Chiapas, Veracruz; tirahule, Quintana Roo;
flecha, Distrito Federal, Hidalgo; horqueta, Distrito Federal, Sinaloa; tiradora, Chiapas,
Nuevo León; estirador, Sinaloa; jaladera, Distrito Federal.
Cuba: Tirapiedra(s) appears to be the dominant term in many regions, including Havana, but
where are flecha, tiradera and tiraflechas used? All five of those who offered tiradera
were from the Oriente.
Venezuela: China seems to be used practically everywhere, but tiratira (should it be spelled tira-
tira?) was given by people from Falcón and Zulia; fonda was offered by people from
Barquisimeto.
Ecuador: The following terms were given by people from specific regions: cata and catapulta,
Quito; cauchera, Esmeraldas, Tulcán; cimbra, Tulcán; flecha, Ambato, Baños; gauchera,
Esmeraldas; honda, Guayaquil; horqueta, Ambato, Guayaquil, Riobamba; jebe, El Oro;
lanzadera, paica and pailca, Cuenca; liga and liguera, Los Ríos; resortera, Chimborazo,
Pichincha; tiradera, Los Ríos; tirajebe, Loja. Paica/pailca, also spelled pallca, is of
Quechua/Quichua origin (Cordero 81).
Peru: Honda was given by Peruvians from diverse regions of the country and is not regionally
weighted, but the following other terms were given by people from specific regions:
resortera, Lima; horqueta, Lima, Tacna; callampa, Junín; goma, Huánuco; guaraca,
Trujillo; estirador, Piura.
Bolivia: Flecha was given by people from the Altiplano; honda by people from Santa Cruz and
Tarija and by some from the Altiplano.
A10.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Biombo (D), callampa (D), cata (D), catapulta (D), cauchera (D), cimbra (D), charpe
(F), china (D), escopeta (D), estirador (F), flecha (D), fonda (D), gauchera (F), goma (D),
gomera (D or F?), guaraca (D), honda (D), hondilla (F), hondita (F), horqueta (D), huaraca (F),
hulera (F), jaladera (F), jebe (D), lanzadera (D), liga (D), liguera (D), negasura (F), paica (F),
pailca (F), parche (D), recua (D), resortera (F), tirabeque (C), tirabete (F), tirabolas (F),
tirachinas (B or C?), tiradera (D), tirador (C?), tiradora (C?), tiraflechas (F), tiragomas (C),
tirahule (F), tirajebe (F), tirapiedras (F), tiratira (D).
23
The following terms, all beginning in tira-, are defined as follows: tirabeque, “2.
Horquilla con mango, a los extremos de la cual se sujetan dos gomas unidas por una badana, en
la que se ponen piedrecillas o perdigones; tirador, tiragomas”; tirachinas, “tirachinos” which in
turn is defined as “Sev. Tirador de horquilla con gomas para tirar con pedrezuelas; tiragomas”;
tiragomas, “Horquilla con gomas para tirar pedrezuelas; tirador, tirachinas”. Sense 9 of the
definition for tirador is identical to sense 2 of tirabeque except that “en la que se ponen
piedrecillas o perdigones; tirador, tiragomas” is changed to “en la que se colocan piedrecillas o
perdigones para dispararlos” (underlines added).
Why is there a lack of uniformity in the definitions? Did several different people write
them and not know what their colleagues were doing? Why not select one term and give it a full
definition and merely cross-reference all of the others to that one? Since honda is the only term
that is used in this sense by at least some people in almost all Spanish-speaking countries (Cuba
and the Dominican Republic being possible exceptions), this would be the most logical candidate
for the lead term. The suggestion, therefore, is to add a sense 3 to the definition of honda that is
similar to the Dictionary’s definition of tirabeque (sense 2) or tirador (sense 9) and have all
other regional synonyms be defined as simply “honda3, arma en forma de horqueta para lanzar
piedritas”.
A11 SWING
A11.1 Terms by Country (7 terms plus variants)
SPAIN columpio (20/20).
EL SALVADOR columpio (12/17), trapecio (6/17), mecedora (2/17).
HONDURAS columpio (13/17), mecedora (3/17), trapecio (3/17), mecedor
(1/17).
NICARAGUA chino(s) (11/14), columpio (5/14), trapecio (3/14).
COSTA RICA hamaca (12/12).
PANAMA suinsuán (9/14), columpio (4/14), trapecio (2/14).
BOLIVIA columpio (14/15), hamaca (1/15).
PARAGUAY hamaca (10/10).
URUGUAY hamaca (13/13).
ARGENTINA hamaca (20/20).
REST OF SPANISH AMERICA columpio (at least 10/10 for each country).
A11.2 Details
General: The above chart simplifies usage somewhat in that a number of respondents offered
variants of columpio such as columbio, culumpio and golumpio. Although such forms
were offered both in speech and in writing by people from Colombia, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru, there is little reason to believe that these
variants are not also found in many other parts of the Spanish-speaking world.
El Salvador: Several respondents indicated that trapecio refers to a primitive type of swing that
often consists of a rope, whereas columpio refers to a manufactured swing of the type
installed in parks.
24
Panama: How should the Panamanian term be spelled, suinsuán, suin-suan or swing-swang? One
respondent also pronounced the word sinsuán.
Bolivia: Columpio appears to be the dominant term, but hamaca was offered by a person from
Santa Cruz.
Hammocks vs. swings in Costa Rica, Paraguay, Uruguay & Argentina: In Uruguay and
Argentina, ‘hammocks’ are often referred to as hamacas paraguayas to distinguish them
from ‘swings’ (hamacas). One Argentine indicated that the term coy or coi is also used in
the sense of ‘hammock’ and she believed it was of Guaraní origin. A Paraguayan
indicated that the Guaraní term for this is kyha (with a nasalized y), and the castillianized
pronunciation is quijá. Are coy and quijá used in Argentina and Paraguay, respectively,
when people are speaking Spanish? Are there terms other than hamaca that are used to
refer to ‘hammocks’ in Costa Rica?
A11.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Columbio (F), columpio (A), culumpio (F), chino (D), golumpio (F), hamaca (D),
mecedor (C), mecedora (D), sinsuán (F), suinsuán (F), trapecio (D).
Mecedor is defined as “3. columpio”. Other than possibly Honduras, where is this term
commonly used in this sense?
A12 TICKTACKTOE (also spelled tick-tack-toe and tic-tac-toe)
A12.1 Terms by Country (c. 20 terms plus variants)
SPAIN tres en raya (20/20).
MEXICO gato (20/26), gato y ratón (3/26), coyote (1/26), timbiriche (1/26), tres en
gallos (1/26).
GUATEMALA totito (13/13).
EL SALVADOR equis cero (12/12).
HONDURAS equis cero (10/10).
NICARAGUA equis cero (13/18), tictactó (6/18).
COSTA RICA gato (12/13), equis cero (2/13).
PANAMA equis cero (10/10).
CUBA ceritos (4/10), ti(c)ta(c)tó (4/10), el cero (1/10), tresillo (1/10).
DOMIN. REP. not common (4/10), ti(c)ta(c)tó (3/10), cero y cruz (2/10), ceritos (1/10).
PUERTO RICO cerito(s) (10/20), tictactó (4/20), cerito cruz (1/20), ceros y cruces (1/20),
cero y equis (1/20), cruces y ceritos (1/20), cruz y cero (1/20), equis y
cerito (1/20), tres en línea (1/20), tres en raya (1/20).
VENEZUELA la vieja (10/10).
COLOMBIA triqui (8/18), tictactó/tictactoc (4/18), tictac (2/18), crucecitos (1/18), equis
cero (1/18), tres en línea (1/18), trique (1/18), triquitrí (1/18).
ECUADOR tres en raya (12/16), tres en calle (3/16), tres en línea (1/16).
PERU michi (17/22), gato (3/22), tres en raya (3/22).
BOLIVIA tres en raya (9/12), tres cruces (3/12).
PARAGUAY tatetí (10/10).
25
URUGUAY tatetí (14/14).
ARGENTINA tatetí (20/20).
CHILE gato (13/13).
A12.2 Details
General: As with many games, the terms are used much more in speech than in writing and
therefore even educated people are often unsure of the correct spelling. How should the
following terms be spelled, as one word or several, with hyphens or without? Equis cero,
equiscero or equis-cero? Tatetí or ta-te-ti? Totito or to-ti-to? Tres en raya or tres-en-
raya? For consistency, the hyphenless spellings are presented in the above chart despite
the fact that many people indicated that they spell their word for this item with a hyphen,
and for brevity most of the terms are presented above without the definite article even
though in speech they often come with the article, i.e. el totito, los ceritos, etc.
Mexico: Gato was given by Mexicans from diverse regions of the country and is not regionally
weighted, but the following other terms were given by people from specific regions: el
coyote, Zacatecas; tres en gallos, Quintana Roo; timbiriche, an older woman from the
Distrito Federal. (Did she misunderstand? See tembereche in subsection A4.1, Mexico.)
Ecuador: Tres en raya was given by people from many different regions, but the three who gave
tres en calle were from Ambato and Baños.
Peru: Michi means ‘cat’ (gato) in Quechua.
Paraguay, Uruguay & Argentina: Most of those queried indicated they would spell the term with
hyphens, ta-te-ti or ta-te-tí, not tatetí.
A12.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Cerito(s) (D), cerito cruz (F), ceros y cruces (F), coyote (D), crucecitos (F), equis cero
(F), gato (D), gato y ratón (F), michi (F), tatetí (D), tictactó (F), tictactoc (F), timbiriche (D),
totito (F), tres cruces (F), tres en calle (F), tres en gallos (F), tres en línea (F), tres en raya (D),
tresillo (D), trique (D), triqui (F), triquitrí (F), vieja (D).
Tres en raya is defined under raya as “Juego de muchachos, que se juega con unas
piedrecillas o tantos colocados en un cuadro, dividido en otros cuatro, con las líneas tiradas de un
lado a otro por el centro, y añadidas las diagonales de un ángulo a otro. El fin del juego consiste
en colocar en cualquiera de las líneas los tres tantos propios, y el arte del juego, en impedir que
esto se logre, interpolando los tantos contrarios.” This definition describes a game that is similar
to but distinct from ‘ticktacktoe’. The game people in the United States refer to as “ticktacktoe”
is common in the Spanish-speaking world and, therefore, a sense 2 needs to be added to the
subentry for tres en raya. What is the best way to define ‘ticktacktoe’ in Spanish? The following
three definitions, proposed by the author, are possibilities:
a) Juego en que dos contrincantes se alternan poniendo cruces o círculos intentando cada
uno ser el primero en completar una hilera horizontal, vertical o diagonal en un tablero de
nueve casillas formado por la intersección de dos líneas verticales y dos horizontales;
b) Juego en que dos jugadores se alternan poniendo equis y ceros en las casillas de un
dibujo o tablero formado por dos líneas verticales que cruzan dos líneas horizontales;
cada jugador intenta crear una hilera de tres equis o tres ceros antes que el contrincante;
26
c) Juego de dos personas en que cada uno trata de hacer una hilera de tres equis o tres
ceros en un cuadro que tiene nueve casillas. (This last definition is a rough translation of
the definition for “ticktacktoe” found in the American Heritage Dictionary.)
The fact that tres en raya appears under tres with a cross-reference that reads “3. V. tres
en raya” raises another lexicographical issue. How should compound terms such as this one be
listed in the Dictionary, under tres, under raya, or should tres en raya be its own separate entry?
Where is the reader most likely to look first, and which solution will make him or her do the least
legwork?
B SCHOOL & MISCELLANEOUS
B1 CHEAT-SHEET
B1.1 Terms by Country (c. 25 terms plus variants)
SPAIN chuleta (20/20).
MEXICO acordeón (20/20).
GUATEMALA chivo (14/14).
EL SALVADOR copia (9/10), acordeón (2/10).
HONDURAS chepe (11/12), acordeón (1/12).
NICARAGUA copia (11/11).
COSTA RICA forro (11/11).
PANAMA batería (12/12).
CUBA chivo (12/14), acordeón (4/14).
DOMIN. REP. chivo (12/12).
PUERTO RICO drog(uit)a (12/18), bate (5/18), chivo (2/18).
VENEZUELA chuleta (18/18).
COLOMBIA chancuco (12/40), copia (7/40), copialina (6/40), machete (5/40), soplete (4/40),
chanchullo (3/40), pastel (3/40), boleta (1/40), comprimido (1/40), guía (1/40).
ECUADOR polla (20/20).
PERU plagio (13/25), comprimido (7/25), copia (5/25), plage (3/25), plagia (2/25), flajeo
(1/25), plageo (1/25).
BOLIVIA chanchullo (15/22), chanchulla (5/22), copie (3/22), becha-becha (1/22).
PARAGUAY copiatín (5/11), copiatini (5/11), copietine (1/11).
URUGUAY ferrocarril (9/15), trencito (9/15), machete (1/15).
ARGENTINA machete (25/25).
CHILE torpedo (16/16).
B1.2 Details
General: The item in question is a piece of paper or other object on which students write
information in order to cheat on exams. Most of the above terms represent what might be
called standardized regional slang terminology. Of course, many speakers use other more
coded or idiosyncratic terms (e.g. arma secreta).
27
Nicaragua: A copia is a standard cheat-sheet, but a number of Nicaraguans indicated that in
student slang a piedra is a photocopy or hand-written copy of the exam itself that is
surreptitiously obtained by students for the purpose of cheating. Others indicated that
piedra refers to any pista or clave (‘hint’ or ‘key’) that helps students with exams,
including ones that are provided by the teacher. To the extent Nicaraguans use both copia
and piedra to refer to ‘cheat-sheets,’ how do they distinguish between these two terms?
Puerto Rico: Who says bate, who says droga or droguita, and who says chivo? One respondent
indicated that bate and chivo are used in the western part of the island and drog(uit)a is
used in the eastern part, but the data collected is inconclusive.
Colombia: The following terms were given by people from specific regions: chancuco,
Cundinamarca, Nariño, Valle; copia, Cundinamarca, Huila, Santander; copialina,
Cundinamarca, Valle; soplete, Boyacá, Cundinamarca; chanchullo, the Costa (Atlantic
Coast region), Cundinamarca, Valle; machete, the Costa; pastel, Antioquia; boleta,
Antioquia; comprimido, Cundinamarca; guía, Santander. What, if any, are the regional
standards within Colombia?
Bolivia: The following terms were given by people from the following regions: chanchullo and
chanchulla, Cochabamba, La Paz; copie (masculine word), Santa Cruz; becha-becha,
Tarija.
Cheating (informal expressions): In Honduras, the verb chepear is used in informal language in
the sense of ‘to cheat’. What other slang verbs meaning ‘to cheat’ derive from nouns
meaning ‘cheat-sheet’?
B1.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Acordeón (B), bate (D), batería (D), becha-becha (F), boleta (D), comprimido (D), copia
(D), copialina (F), copiatín (F), copiatini (F), copie (F), copietine (F), chancuco (D), chanchulla
(F), chanchullo (D), chepe (F), chivo (D), chuleta (B), droga (D), droguita (F), ferrocarril (D),
flajeo (F), forro (D), guía (D), machete (B), pastel (D), piedra (D), plage (F), plageo (F), plagia
(F), plagio (D), polla (D), torpedo (D), tren (D), trencito (F).
Chuleta is defined as “4. fig. Entre estudiantes, papelito con fórmulas u otros apuntes que
se lleva oculto para usarlo disimuladamente en los exámenes” (underline added), whereas
acordeón is defined as “2. fam. Méj. Especie de chuleta, papelito con apuntes para uso, no
autorizado, de los estudiantes en exámenes escritos” (underlines added). Why is chuleta defined
as “figurative” usage while acordeón is characterized as “familiar” usage and as a “type of
chuleta”? The two are simply regional synonyms for the same phenomenon and this should be
clearly indicated in the definitions. If chuleta is to be the regional term for which a full definition
is given, why not define acordeón, and all other regional synonyms, as simply “chuleta4, papel u
otro objeto que se usa para hacer trampa en un examen”?
Are any of the terms presented in subsection B1.1 above commonly used to refer to any
piece of paper containing information that people use legally to recall facts they would not
otherwise remember, in the extended meaning in which “cheat-sheet” is used in U.S. English? If
so, the Dictionary will need to add a second sense to the definitions of these terms.
28
B2 HOMEWORK
B2.1 Terms by Country (3 terms)
SPAIN deberes (25/34), tarea (12/34).
MEXICO tarea (25/25).
GUATEMALA deberes (9/13), tarea (6/13).
EL SALVADOR deberes (8/12), tarea (6/12).
HONDURAS tarea (10/10).
NICARAGUA tarea (10/10).
COSTA RICA tarea (10/14), asignación (6/14).
PANAMA tarea (14/14).
CUBA tarea (12/12).
DOMIN. REP. tarea (11/11).
PUERTO RICO asignación (14/15), tarea (2/15).
VENEZUELA tarea (14/14).
COLOMBIA tarea (20/20).
ECUADOR deberes (13/17), tarea (6/17).
PERU tarea (20/20), asignación (4/20).
BOLIVIA tarea (14/14).
PARAGUAY deberes (13/14), tarea (5/14).
URUGUAY deberes (16/17), tarea (2/17).
ARGENTINA deberes (21/23), tarea (10/23).
CHILE tarea (19/19).
B2.2 Details
General: Deberes and tareas can be considered simple synonyms insofar as both terms are
generally understood by educated speakers as being equivalent (the modifiers escolares,
para el hogar or para la casa can be added for clarification). Nevertheless, the data from
this study clearly indicate that in most Spanish-speaking countries one of the two terms is
more commonly used in the sense of ‘homework’. Deberes seems to be preferred in
Spain, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina while tarea is predominant in Mexico,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela,
Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. In Guatemala and El Salvador, there appears to be a
fairly healthy competition between the two terms.
Guatemala & El Salvador: Are the terms deberes and tareas used interchangeably in these two
countries, or would testing greater numbers of people show a definite preference for one
over the other?
Asignación: Many people from Costa Rica and Peru indicated that asignación is a written report,
term paper or other assignment that is longer than a tarea, which is a shorter homework
assignment, while a few said asignación and tarea were synonyms. In Puerto Rico,
however, asignación is a homework assignment in general. Is asignación commonly used
in either sense anywhere other than Costa Rica, Peru and Puerto Rico?
29
B2.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Asignación (D), deber (A or D?), tarea (D).
Deber is defined as “3. Ejercicio que, como complemento de lo aprendido en clase, se
encarga, para hacerlo fuera de ella, al alumno de los primeros grados de enseñanza. Ú. m. en pl.”
(underline added). The definition indicates that deber is homework done specifically by a
primary school student. To what extent, and where, is this true? The evidence from this study
indicates that, both deberes and tareas are used, in their respective regions, in the generic sense
of ‘homework,’ whether in primary, secondary, or higher education.
Given how common the use of tarea in the sense of ‘homework’ is in much of the
Spanish-speaking world (it appears to be the dominant term in twelve out of twenty countries),
what explanation can be given for the fact that the Dictionary has failed to include this sense in
its entry for tarea?
B3 TO PLAY HOOKY (also spelled hookey)
B3.1 Phrases by Country (c. 50 phrases plus variants)
SPAIN hacer novillos (20/50), pirar(se) (8/50), hacer pellas (7/50), hacer campana (4/50),
hacer pira (3/50), pelar(se) la clase (3/50), fumarse la clase (2/50), grillarse la
clase (2/50), hacer pirola (2/50), hacer rabona (2/50), latar a clase (2/50), colgar
clase (1/50), fanar clases (1/50), hacer calva (1/50), hacer fuchina (1/50), hacer la
liebre (1/50), hacer pila (1/50), irse de pellas (1/50), salarse la clase (1/50).
MEXICO irse de pinta (27/40), hacerse la pinta (8/40), echarse la pinta (4/40), salirse de
pinta (1/40), pintar venados (2/40), pintear(se) la clase (2/40), hacerse la balona
(1/40), hacerse la perra (1/40), perrearse (1/40).
GUATEMALA capear(se) (11/12), irse de capiuza (3/12).
EL SALVADOR no common expression (10/10).
HONDURAS no common expression (10/10).
NICARAGUA no common expression (10/10).
COSTA RICA no common expression (10/10).
PANAMA pavear(se) (11/11).
CUBA no common expression (6/11), comerse la guásima (2/11), hacer novillo(s) (2/11),
pelar la guásima (1/11).
DOMIN. REP. no common expression (7/10), brillar (3/10).
PUERTO RICO comer jobo (10/18), cortar clase (9/18), hacer brusca (3/18).
VENEZUELA jubilarse (9/17), no common expression (8/17).
COLOMBIA capar (14/22), (es)cachar (4/22), echarse/tirarse la leva (4/22), capear (2/22).
ECUADOR echarse la pera (10/22), hacerse la pava (9/22), hacerse la pera (4/22), perearse
(4/22), tirarse la pera (3/22), ranclarse (1/22).
PERU hacerse la vaca (26/40), tirarse la pera (16/40), tirarse la vaca (4/40), hacerse la
pera (3/40), echarse la pera (2/40), irse de vaca (1/40).
BOLIVIA chachar(se) (15/18), chuñear (3/18).
PARAGUAY hacer(se la) rabona (7/11), rabonear (7/11).
URUGUAY hacer(se la) rabona (15/18), hacerse la rata (5/18), ratearse (2/18).
30
ARGENTINA hacerse la rata (25/37), hacer(se la) rabona (13/37), hacerse la chupina (5/37),
ratearse (3/37).
CHILE hacer la cimarra (11/15), capear (6/15), hacer la chancha (3/15), hacerse el
chancho (1/15).
B3.2 Details
General: The above phrases are colloquial expressions meaning ‘not to go to school without
having a valid excuse such as an illness,’ that is, ‘to play hooky’.
Spain: The expression hacer novillos was given by Spaniards from diverse regions of the country
and is not regionally weighted. The following expressions, however, were given by
people from specific regions: pirar(se), Aragón, Asturias, León; hacer pellas/irse de
pellas, Castilla, León, País Vasco; hacer campana, Castilla, Cataluña, Valladolid; hacer
pira, País Vasco; pelar(se) la clase, Alicante, Valencia; fumarse la clase, Alicante,
Valladolid; grillarse la clase, León; hacer pirola, Zaragoza, Aragón; hacer rabona,
Andalucía; latar a clase, Galicia (respondents indicated this is a Gallego expression);
colgar clase and fanar clases, Galicia; hacer calva, Pamplona; hacer fuchina, Valencia;
hacer la liebre, Asturias; hacer pila and salarse la clase, Valencia.
Cuba: Are the expressions comerse la guásima and pelar la guásima used primarily in the
Oriente? Those who gave these expressions were from this region.
Dominican Republic: Brillar, when used in this sense, is apparently an ellipsis for brillar por la
ausencia, brillar por su ausencia, etc. How common is this usage?
Puerto Rico: Is comer jobo used in this sense more by the older generations and cortar clase (a
calque of “to cut class”) more by the younger generations? There is some evidence that
this is the case.
Colombia: Capar and/or capear were offered by Colombians from many different areas of the
interior, but cachar and escachar were offered by people from Tunja and Santander, and
echarse la leva or tirarse la leva by people from the Costa.
Ecuador: Echarse la pera, hacerse la pera, tirarse la pera and perearse were given by
Ecuadorans from many different areas of the Sierra (highland region); hacerse la pava,
by people from Guayaquil; ranclarse by a person from Cuenca.
Bolivia: Chachar was offered by people from various parts of the Altiplano; chuñear by people
from Santa Cruz.
Uruguay: A number of people indicated that the expressions hacerse la rata and ratearse have
entered into Uruguayan usage relatively recently and are due to Argentine influence.
Argentina: Hacerse la rata, hacer rabona or hacerse la rabona, and ratearse were offered by
Argentines from diverse regions of the country and are not regionally weighted, but
hacerse la chupina was only offered by people from Córdoba and Santa Fe.
People who play hooky: The following slang terms, which derive from the expressions presented
in subsection B3.1 above, are commonly used as nouns and adjectives to refer to people
who play hooky: chachón, Bolivia; perista, Highland Ecuador; rabonero, Paraguay (and
Argentina and Uruguay?); vaquero, Peru. What other terms that could be formed from
expressions for ‘to play hooky’__
such as capeador (Guatemala?, Chile?); jobero (Puerto
Rico?), novillero (Spain?), and pintero or pintón (Mexico?), etc.__
are commonly used in
this sense?
31
B3.3 Real Academia Regional Review
Brillar (D), cachar (D), capar (D), capear(se) (B), colgar clase (F), comer jobo(s) (A),
comerse la guásima (F), cortar clase (F), chachar (F), chuñear (F), echarse de pinta (F), echarse
la leva (F), echarse la pera (F), escachar (D), fanar clases (F), grillarse la clase (F), hacer
brusca (F), hacer calva (F), hacer campana (F), hacer fuchina (C or F?), hacer la cimarra (A?),
hacer la chancha (F), hacerse el chancho (F), hacerse la chupina (F), hacer la lata (F), hacer la
liebre (F), hacer novillos (C), hacerse la pava (F), hacer pellas (C), hacerse la pera (F), hacer
peyas (F), hacer pila (F), hacerse la pinta (F), hacer pira (F), hacer pirola (F), hacer(se la)
rabona (C), hacerse la rata (B), hacerse la vaca (F), irse de capiuza (F), irse de pellas (F), irse
de peyas (F), irse de pinta (F), irse de vaca (F), jubilarse (D), latar a clase (F), pavear(se) (F),
pelar clases (F), pelar la guásima (F), perearse (F), pintar venado(s) (F), pintear(se) (D), pirar
(C), rabonear (F), ranclarse (F), ratearse (D), salarse la clase (D), tirarse la leva (F), tirarse la
pera (F), tirarse la vaca (F).
The following terms and phrases are defined as follows: hacer novillos (under novillos),
“fr. fam. Dejar uno de asistir a alguna parte contra lo debido o acostumbrado, especialmente los
escolares”; pirar, “intr. vulg. Hacer novillos, faltar a clase”; capear, “5. Guat. Entre escolares y
estudiantes, faltar a sus clases sin motivo justificado, a espaldas de sus padres o tutores”; fuchina,
“(Del cat. fugir.) f. Ar. Huida, escapada”; hacer cimarra (under cimarra), “(der. regres. de
cimarrón.) fr. fam. Argent. (Cuyo) y Chile. hacer novillos”; ir de pira (under pira), “fr. en la
jerga estudiantil, no entrar en la clase”.
Why is the definition of capear worded differently from that of hacer novillos when they
are synonyms, that is, regional expressions for the same phenomenon? If hacer novillos is to be
the base term for which a full definition is given, why not just cross-reference all of the other
expressions to this one, as has been done with hacer cimarra. Is hacer la cimarra or hacer
cimarra used in the Argentine provinces of Mendoza, San Juan and San Luis?
B4 SCHOOL YEAR
B4.1 School Year by Country
Note: Data from respondents are not presented in this subsection because the school year is a
question of fact rather than individual usage. About ten people were queried from each country.
SPAIN September to June.
MEXICO August/September to June.
GUATEMALA January to October.
EL SALVADOR January to October.
HONDURAS February to November.
NICARAGUA February to November/December.
COSTA RICA February/March to December.
PANAMA March/April to December.
CUBA September to June.
DOMIN. REP. September to June.
PUERTO RICO August to May.
32
VENEZUELA September to July.
COLOMBIA January/February to November/December.
ECUADOR October to July (Sierra); April/May to January/February (Costa).
PERU March/April to December.
BOLIVIA February to October/November.
PARAGUAY February/March to November.
URUGUAY March to November/December.
ARGENTINA March to November/December.
CHILE March to December.
B4.2 Details
General: The school year schedules presented above are for primary and secondary schools in the
countries’ public education systems. In many cases, a range of months has been indicated
because the school year often varies slightly from year to year and, occasionally, between
primary and secondary school. In essence, all Spanish-speaking countries, with the
exception of Ecuador, use one of two schedules. The school years of Spain, Mexico, the
Hispanic Antilles and Venezuela run from approximately September to June, give or take
a month, whereas those of Hispanic Central America and all of Hispanic South America
except Venezuela and Ecuador run from about February to November, again, give or take
a month. For countries that have four seasons, an important factor seems to be to have the
vacation period coincide with the warmer months, whereas in the cases of tropical
countries, some prefer to have their vacations coincide with the December through
January Christmas holiday season, and others seem to prefer to match up with the
academic years of Europe and North America and therefore have adopted a September-
to-June schedule.
Mexico: There used to be two different school years, a February/March-to-November/December
schedule, called Plan A, in the central and southern parts of the country, and a
September-to-June schedule, called Plan B, in northern states. (In Mexico los estados del
Norte generally refer to the border states of Baja California del Norte, Sonora,
Chihuahua, Coahila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, plus Sinaloa and Durango.) In about
1970, the two systems were unified with the September-to-June schedule being imposed
throughout the country. There have recently been some initiatives to have the Distrito
Federal go back to a Plan A schedule because of high levels of pollution due to thermal
inversion that occur during the winter months.
Ecuador: The school year in the Sierra (highland region) is October to July whereas in the Costa
(coastal region) it is from April or May until January or February. Public schools in the
Oriente (amazon region) follow the Sierra school schedule and in the Galapagos Islands
the Costa’s schedule is followed. Ecuador is currently the only Spanish-speaking country
in which half the country uses one school year and the other half uses another. The reason
for this is weather. In the Costa, the invierno (rainy season) runs from approximately
January through April during which time massive flooding tends to wash out roads and
make transportation difficult in rural areas. Costeños, therefore, schedule their school
year around this period. In the Sierra, however, there is less precipitation between June
and September and, for this reason, serranos prefer to have their vacation during this
33
sunnier period. Is the fact that the Sierra’s September-to-June schedule coincides with the
U.S. school year also a determining factor?
Private Schools: In Colombia, Hispanic Central America, and perhaps some Hispanic South
American countries where public schools run from about February to November, there
are private schools__
generally bilingual schools that cater to the upper classes__
that follow
a September-to-June school year so that people who attend them can easily match up with
the United States’ and Europe’s academic calendar. In Colombia, Calendario A refers to
the school schedule that runs from January/February to November/December, that is
followed by the vast majority of schools, while Calendario B refers to the September-to-
June schedule followed by some private schools.
APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL TOPICS
The following is a small selection of additional topics in the field of Spanish lexical dialectology
that relate to children. In many cases, only a few informants from each specified country or
region have been observed or questioned regarding these issues, and the findings are therefore
tentative at best. No doubt many of the usages presented are used in many more regions than
those listed; the information provided is based on the data the author was able to collect.
Although some information is provided on how the terminology varies by region, the topics are
primarily presented to call attention to their existence as possible dialectological issues and to
encourage others to research them further. Spelling issues such as c vs. s are also raised. All
references to definitions are to those of the 1992 edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua
Española (the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary).
amusement park. Is it parque de atracciones in Spain and parque de diversiones in most of
Spanish America? In Panama, coney island, pronounced as if written coni aylan, is also
used in this sense (from Coney Island, the amusement park in Brooklyn, New York).
bogeyman. The terms given below are rough equivalents insofar as they are all imaginary
figures used to scare children, but the image that each conjures varies considerably. How
should each of these terms be defined in the Dictionary? In other words, what images do
they refer to in their respective countries or regions? El bulto (Santa Cruz, Bolivia); el
cadejo (Costa Rica, Guatemala); la cegua/la segua (Costa Rica, Nicaragua); la
ciguanaba/la siguanaba (Guatemala); el cipitío/el sipitío (El Salvador); el coco (Bolivia?,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama?, Spain, Venezuela); el cuco
(Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico?, Panama, Peru, Puerto
Rico, Uruguay); el cucu (Bolivia); la cucula (Bolivia); el cuculi (Bolivia); el cucú-lelé
(Paraguay); el cucuy/el cocuy (Mexico); el curupí (Paraguay); el chamuco (Mexico); el
chucho (Manizales, Colombia); el hombre de la bolsa and el viejo de la bolsa (Argentina,
Paraguay, Uruguay); el hombre del saco (Spain); el hui (Mexico); el loco (Mexico,
Venezuela); la llorona (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela); la
madremonte (Colombia); la mano pachona (Mexico); la mariangula (Ecuador); la
mocuana (Nicaragua); el mono (Nicaragua); el monstruo de los mangones (Colombia); el
mumo (Valencia, Spain); el nagual (Jalisco, Mexico); el ogro (Aragón, Spain); el
pombero (Paraguay); la sayona (Venezuela); la solapa (Entre Ríos, Argentina); la
tulivieja (Panama); el yasú-yateré or yasy-yateré (Paraguay, with a nasal tilde on the
34
second y of yasy, Guaraní term). Paparrasolla is defined as “Ente imaginario con que se
amedrenta a los niños a fin de que se callen cuando lloran.” Where is this term commonly
used in this sense?
dodge ball. The American Heritage Dictionary defines “dodge ball” as “A game in which
players outside a circle try to eliminate players on the inside by hitting them with an
inflated ball.” Is this game (or varieties of it) played in Spanish-speaking countries and, if
so, what are its names?
gum (chewing gum, bubble gum). Are goma de mascar and chicle universal synonyms for
chewing gum, or are there regional preferences? Are there special regional names for
‘bubble gum’ (including brand names that have become generic terms)? What about the
‘bubbles’ one can create when chewing bubble gum? Who says bomba and who says
globo? Does anyone say burbuja?
hide and seek. What, if any, are the regional preferences between jugar a las escondidas and
jugar al escondite, and what other names for this game exist?
kid (colloquial and popular words for ‘child’). The following is a selection of regional terms
used for ‘children’. Much more research needs to be done to determine what age groups
each term generally refers to, and what sociolinguistic associations each term has in each
region: bicho (El Salvador, Honduras); botija (Uruguay); cabro (Chile); carajillo (Costa
Rica); carajito (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela); carricito (Venezuela);
cipote/sipote (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua); crío (Spain); chamaco (Costa Rica,
Cuba?, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela); chamo (Venezuela, teenager); chango (Northwest
Argentina and the Bolivian Altiplano); chaval (Spain); chavalo (Mexico, Nicaragua);
chavo (Guatemala, Mexico); chibolo (Peru); chilpayate (Mexico); chino (Colombia);
chirís (Guatemala); chigüín (Nicaragua); chorreado (El Salvador, pejorative, = ‘niño
sucio’); enano (Spain); escuincle (Mexico, pejorative); guagua (Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador,
Peru, baby/child); guaina? (Chile?); guaje (Asturias, Spain, Asturiano term); guámbito
(Tolima and Huila, Colombia); guambra (Highland Ecuador, adolescent); güerco/huerco
(Monterrey, Mexico); güila (Costa Rica); güiro (Guatemala); güirro? (Honduras?); gurí
(Uruguay and northeast Argentina, popular plural = gurises, feminine form, ‘girl’ =
gurisa); imilla (Bolivian Altiplano = girl; see llocalla below); ishto (Guatemala,
pejorative); llocalla (Bolivian Altiplano = boy; see imilla above. Are imilla and llocalla
of Aymara or of Quechua origin?); mitaí/mitaĩ (Paraguay = boy, Guaraní term); mita
cuñaí (Paraguay = girl, Guaraní term); morro (Sonora, Mexico); nano (Alicante, Spain);
neno (Asturias, Spain); patojo (Guatemala and Loja, Ecuador); pela(d)o (Colombia,
Panama, lowland Bolivia); peladingo (lowland Bolivia); pendejo (Argentina, Uruguay,
pejorative); peneca? (Chile?); peque? (Spain?); pequeñajo (Spain, pejorative?); pibe
(Argentina); pistusia? (Chile?); plebe (Sinaloa, Mexico); purrete (Argentina); rapaciño
(Galicia, Spain, Gallego term); rapaz (León, Spain); tiguerito (Dominican Republic,
pejorative, streetwise child or one who misbehaves); sardino (Colombia); vejigo (Cuba,
pejorative); xiquet (Alicante, Spain, Catalán term); zagal (Spain, rural areas?). How
universal is the use of chico in the sense of ‘child’?
piñata. In Ecuador, piñatas are generally called ollas encantadas. What other local terms are
there for this in other regions?
quiz. What is the term used in each country for a short test? Many Spanish speakers from many
different regions answered prueba and others stated that there is no specific word for it
other than examen (the word for “test” or “exam”) plus a modifier such as pequeño,
35
corto, relámpago, etc. Others, however, offered specific words for ‘quiz’. Prueba was
offered by people from many different countries, but the following more regionally
weighted terms were also offered: aporte (Guayaquil, Ecuador; in the Sierra quizzes are
called pruebas); concurso (Islas Canarias); control (Chile, Tacna, Peru, Spain,
Uruguay?); cuestionario (Argentina?, Mexico, Uruguay?); cüis/quiz (Colombia, Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela); escrito (Uruguay); paso (Peru);
previa (Colombia); pruebín (Dominican Republic; a prueba is longer, more like a ‘test’);
repaso (Bolivia, a prueba is longer); test (Argentina?, Cuba?, Mexico?, Spain, Uruguay?,
Venezuela). Which countries generally use a two-term gradation scheme differentiating
their tests into shorter tests and longer tests, and which use a three-way scheme consisting
of short, medium and long tests (perhaps like “quiz” “test” and “exam” in U.S. English)?
report card. Are there regional preferences between, for example, boletín and libreta? What
other base terms are used? What about when modifiers are added such as de notas, de
calificaciones or academico/a? Do all Spanish-speaking countries have a specific term
for ‘report card’ that is commonly used? Many Spanish speakers queried in this study
indicated that ‘report cards’ are called simply las notas.
roller blades. Is there any special name for them other than patines or patines de ruedas? Sense
1 of the Dictionary’s definition of patín is: “Aparato de patinar que consiste en una
plancha que se adapta a la suela del calzado y lleva una especie de cuchilla o dos pares de
ruedas, según sirva para ir sobre el hielo o sobre un pavimento duro, liso y muy llano. En
el segundo caso se llama patín de ruedas.” The above definition needs to be modified
and expanded so that it covers not only the old roller skates that were attached to one’s
shoes, but also the more modern versions that come in the form of boots with attached
wheels. The definition also describes ice skates that attached to one’s shoes which is even
more antiquated than attachable roller skates; the latter were common in the United States
until about the late sixties/early seventies, but attachable ice skates? They probably went
out of style with pipes and bow ties, if not earlier. In the different regions of the Spanish-
speaking world, how common is the type of roller skate described in this definition in
comparison to the more modern form of roller skates and to roller blades?
scold. How do Spanish speakers say “My mom scolded me”? Yes, mi mamá/mami/madre me
regañó is certainly a possibility and a form that is universally understood by educated
speakers, but regañar is not the most commonly used verb in many regions. Here are
some local ways of saying it that were offered by people from the regions indicated: me
pasmó (León, Spain); me peleó (Dominican Republic); me riñó (Bolivia, Spain); me
repeló (Ecuador); me resondró (Peru); me retó (Argentina, Bolivia [lowland Bolivia?],
Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay); me rezongó (Uruguay); me trapeó (Costa Rica,
rural). In addition to these verbs, several regional expressions were offered for this
including: me cantó las cuarenta (Spain, and elsewhere?); me echó/dio un boche
(Dominican Republic); me echó/pegó una bronca (Spain); me echó un puro (Spain); me
echó una vaina/una descarga/un raspapolvo (Cuba); me leyó la cartilla (Spain). In what
regions of the Spanish-speaking world are these and other expressions commonly used?
scooter. Sense 2 of patín is “patinete” which, in turn, is defined as, “Juguete que consiste en una
plancha sobre ruedas y provista de un manillar para conducirlo, sobre el que se deslizan
los niños poniendo un pie sobre él e impulsándose con el otro contra el suelo.” Although
some have suggested patinete is the predominant term for this item in Spain and patineta
in Spanish America, the breakdown does not appear to be quite that simple. The
36
following other terms for this item were also offered: carriola (Cuba); escúter (from
“scooter,” Costa Rica, Chile); monopatín (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay); el patín
del diablo (Mexico, Puerto Rico). Given that monopatín refers to ‘skateboard,’ can it also
refer to ‘scooter’? Scooters may not currently be very common in many parts of the
world, but in the United States in the late 1990s they made an incredible comeback and,
therefore, may become popular elsewhere as well.
tag. There are many different regional names given to the children’s game in which one player
chases after the others until he or she is able to touch one of them who, in turn, then
becomes the pursuer. The following terms have been offered by people from the
following regions (this is probably only the tip of the iceberg): al agarra(d)o / a los
agarra(d)o(s) (Cuba); ampay (Peru); a coger (Puerto Rico); cántaro (Honduras); a
cogernos (Salamanca, Spain); las cogidas (Cuba?, Ecuador); la cogidilla (Islas Canarias);
corre-corre que te pillo (Málaga, Spain); corre que te pillo (Chile); la chapada (Junín,
Peru); la chepa (Peru); chucha (Manizales, Colombia); la ere (Venezuela; Does it come
from eres, present tense of ser?); eres tú and tú eres (Puerto Rico); la gambeta
(Santander, Colombia); el loco (Dominican Republic); la lleva (Mérida, Venezuela and
Colombia, Panama); la mancha (Argentina and Uruguay); a la mano negra and pasar la
mano (La Paz, Bolivia); el mare (Valencia, Spain); la mica (El Salvador); la minga
(Dominican Republic); pásala (Panama); la pega (Guayaquil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru);
pega-pega (Peru); pegada (Piura, Peru); pégale y córrele (Mexico); el pegue (Nicaragua);
la pelonera (Panama); pescao (Puerto Rico); pesca-pesca (Bolivia and Yucatán,
Mexico); a la peste (Tarragona, Spain); la pica (León, Spain); al pillao (Bilbao, Spain);
pillapilla (Madrid and Valencia, Spain); a pillar(se) and al pillar (Spain, Chile); la pinta
(Chile); la popa (Rosario, Argentina); la queda (Asturias, Spain); quedó (Costa Rica); las
quemadas (Cuenca, Ecuador); a que no me coges (Puerto Rico); la roña (Mexico); la
tiene (Panama); te la llevas (Andalucía, Spain); tenta (Guatemala); a las tocadas
(Ambato, Ecuador); tócale y pásala (Mexico); a las topadas (Quito, Ecuador); al topao
(Dominican Republic); tuca-é / tukã’e (Paraguay, Guaraní terms); la tuja (Santa Cruz,
Bolivia); la tula (Bolivia and Aragón, León, Madrid and Valencia, Spain); tú la llevas
(Alicante, Spain); tú la pagas (Zaragoza, Spain); tú la traes and a la trae (Baja California
del Norte, Jalisco and Michoacán, Mexico); el vale (Guayaquil, Ecuador); volandá
(Nicaragua). How should each of the above games be defined, that is, how is each played
and in what specific regions? Should a single broad definition be used to cover many of
the above or do many more specific definitions need to be devised? The following
phrases were offered from the following regions as what is said at the moment when one
child touches the other or to refer to the condition of being “it” in the game of tag:
“ampay me salvo” (Peru); “quedó” (Costa Rica); “tiene la mica” (El Salvador); “tú la
traes” (i.e. “traes la roña,” Mexico).
to take an exam (what the student does). Do the verbs people use to express this concept in
everyday language vary by region? The answer to this question is a resounding “yes”.
Certainly, there are formal ways of stating this that are internationally accepted such as
examinarse, presentarse al examen and rendir examen, but when people let their hair
down a bit, the following more regionally weighted expressions are used (in many
countries more than one verb is commonly used in informal language): coger (el) examen
(Dominican Republic, Panama); dar (el) examen (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador,
Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, i.e. all of Spanish-speaking South America from Ecuador on
37
south); hacer (el) examen (most of Central America, Mexico, Spain); presentar (el)
examen (Colombia, Panama?, Venezuela); tener (el) examen (Spain); tomar (el) examen
(Cuba?, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay?, Uruguay?).
Interestingly enough, some from Paraguay and Uruguay indicated that both dar and
tomar were used in this sense. See “to give an exam” below.
to give an exam (what the teacher does). Given the fact that the way of expressing the concept
of ‘taking exams’ exhibits regional variation, it is not surprising that ‘giving exams’ does
likewise. While the non-regionally weighted phrases examinarles a los alumnos,
aplicarles el examen or impartirles el examen are used in formal usage, everyday
expressions show a more regional distribution: dar (el) examen (most of Central
America, Colombia, Hispanic Antilles, Mexico, Paraguay, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela);
hacer (el) examen (Spain); poner (el) examen (Mexico, Spain); tomar (el) examen
(Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, i.e. all of Spanish-
speaking South America from Ecuador on south). Again, people from Paraguay and
Uruguay indicated that both dar and tomar were used in this sense.
to flunk an exam (to ‘fail’ an exam in colloquial language). What verbs are equivalent to
“flunk”? In the more formal register, verbs such as suspender, perder and desaprobar or
reprobar are more or less universal, but less formal expressions are more regionally
weighted: aplazar (Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras, Paraguay, Venezuela, and
elsewhere?); bochar (Argentina, Uruguay); cargar (Spain); catear and dar un cate
(Spain); colgar (Cuba, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Spain); corcharse (Colombia); echarse
(Guatemala); escachar (Islas Canarias); follar (Valencia, Spain); fracasar (Panama, for
example, in the expression fracasé el examen); guindar (Puerto Rico); jalar (Peru);
palmar (Valencia, Spain); pencar (Cataluña, País Vasco, Spain); planchar (en)
(Guatemala); ponchar (Cuba?, Guatemala); quedarse (Costa Rica, Honduras); quemarse
(Dominican Republic); rajar (Chile, Colombia); raspar (Venezuela); sonar (en) (Costa
Rica, Paraguay?); tirarse (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador); tronar (Guatemala, Mexico,
Nicaragua).
It should be noted that aplazar and quedarse, although not as formal as suspender
or desaprobar, are also not as slangy as rajar, raspar or tronar, etc. Also, in some of
these expressions, the verb can be transitive or intransitive, i.e. me jalaron vs. jalé (el
examen, en matemáticas), me rajaron vs. me rajé (en el examen), me tronaron vs. troné
el examen, etc. In general, however, the transitive forms, such as me colgaron, me
rasparon, me poncharon, etc., appear to be more common than the corresponding
intransitive forms, perhaps because people naturally find it more palatable to attribute
their failures to actions taken by others rather than to their own shortcomings.
There are also many expressions that are even slangier and/or more vulgar than
those listed above such as me cagaron, me culearon, me encajaron un huevo (i.e. ‘un
cero’), me hacharon, me hicieron mierda, me huevaron, me mamaron, me lo metieron,
me pasaron con la aplanadora, me reventaron. However, most in this last group are
much more general in meaning in that they can refer to any situation in which one person
is, or claims to be unfairly treated by another and, as is the case with the English verb
“screw (over),” many of these expressions have sexual implications.
For ‘to just barely pass,’ ‘to pass by the skin of one’s neck,’ etc., a Mexican gave
the expression pasar de panzazo and an Argentine gave pasar a gatas and pasar de
refilón. Are these expressions universal, regional or idiosyncratic?
38
NOTES
1. For information on items in other semantic fields whose names in Spanish vary by region, see
the following works by Andre Moskowitz:
“Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: food and drink.” Proceedings of the 40th Annual
Conference of the American Translators Association, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.,
November 3-6, 1999. Ed. Ann G. Macfarlane. American Translators Association, 1999.
275-308.
“Topics in Spanish lexical dialectology: the home.” Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference
of the American Translators Association, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, U.S.A.,
November 4-8, 1998. Ed. Ann G. Macfarlane. American Translators Association, 1998.
221-253.
“Fruit and vegetable terminology in the Spanish-speaking world: regional variation.”
Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, San
Francisco, California, U.S.A., November 5-9, 1997. Ed. Muriel M. Jérôme-O’Keeffe.
American Translators Association, 1997. 233-261.
“Clothing terminology in the Spanish-speaking world: regional variation.” Proceedings of the
37th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Colorado Springs,
Colorado, U.S.A., October 30-November 3, 1996. Ed. Muriel M. Jérôme-O’Keeffe.
American Translators Association, 1996. 287-308.
“Car terminology in the Spanish-speaking world.” Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of
the American Translators Association, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., November 8-12,
1995. Ed. Peter W. Krawutschke. American Translators Association, 1995. 331-340.
“Contribución al estudio del español ecuatoriano.” Unpublished M.A. thesis. Department of
Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Florida. Gainesville, Florida. 1995.
“A box of office supplies: dialectological fun” The Georgetown Journal of Languages &
Linguistics. Vol 1.3. Ed. Richard J. O’Brien, S.J. 1990. 315-344.
2. The author would like to thank Dasha Hlavenka for kindly providing the illustrations that
appear in this article, and Lucrecia Hug, Débora Simcovich and Josh Wallman for editing earlier
drafts and making a number of valuable suggestions. In addition, he would like to express his
appreciation to Susan Black, Albert Bork, Sharlee Merner Bradley, Lolita Aniyar de Castro,
Mark and Silvia Cox, Rudolf Heller, Clary Loisel, Sonia Stroessner, and Tom West for going out
of their way to put me in contact with informants/respondents for this study. Last but not least,
he would like to thank all of the people who generously gave of their time to answer questions on
usage.
REFERENCES
Alvar, Manuel. 1991. Estudios de Geografía Lingüística. Madrid: Paraninfo.
Cordero, Luis. 1989. Diccionario Quichua. Quito: Corporación Editora Nacional.
39
Real Academia Española. 1992. Diccionario de la Lengua Española. 21st Edition. Madrid:
Espasa-Calpe, S.A.
Seco, Manuel. 1987. Estudios de Lexicografía Española. Madrid: Paraninfo.
Soukhanov, Anne H., ed. 1996. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.