Five Spanish Words We Need to Borrow in English

Here are some better words for DOMS; people who are good at their jobs; well-meaning know-it-all types; getting your act together; and putting the world to rights after lunch

"English Dictionaries" by jovike is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

One of the funniest things about my day job as a Barcelona-based financial journalist specialising in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is the constant use of Spanglish among financiers. It is quite common to hear sentences like this: “El pipeline de transacciones tiene buena pinta.”

There is no good translation of the word “pipeline” into Spanish in a financial context, so local dealmakers just borrow the English word. I hear many other examples on a regular basis. In that spirit, I would like to offer you five Spanish words, which we really should borrow in English.

Agujetas

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) sounds a bit technical. The informal Spanish word, agujetas, is simpler and easier for those times when yesterday’s exercise is making your legs hurt today.

As a bonus for anyone who enjoyed my recent column on Spanish music, Manuel Agujetas (his artistic name roughly means Manuel Soreness) is one of the most uncompromising singers of cante jondo (deep songs in the flamenco tradition). If you’ve already warmed up your ears by listening to some of the flamenco-fusion I mentioned in the previous column, here is a hardcore martinete (a hammer song, which was traditionally sung by rural blacksmiths) from the man himself.

Crack

If you have spent any time in Spain, you will know that there are few words of praise higher than: “¡Qué crack!” The word crack is borrowed from football. It refers to a star striker, who is ruthless in front of goal. People here use it all the time to praise people who have shown skill while getting a job done in an impressive way. It is roughly equivalent to “legend.”

Strangely enough, the word seems to have been picked up from English, although I’m not sure we would ever use it in quite the same way. Other examples of English-ish words in Spanish include footing, which was the slightly weird word for jogging a few decades back, and randomly adding ing to Spanish words, most notably by the airline Vueling (vuelo means flight) or the bike rental service Bicing.

Cuñado

In British English, we have the word “gammon” to refer to red-faced white men who feel the need to express angry right-wing opinions. The Spanish version is even better. Cuñado (sometimes abbreviated to cuñao) usually means brother-in-law. In slang, it roughly means know-it-all, but it carries a more affectionate vibe. It is perfect when a family member who works as a bus driver is loudly and passionately explaining why all the economists are wrong and how tariffs (import taxes) will bring down prices.

Rather wonderfully, the word can sometimes be extended to become cuñadismo (roughly, brother-in-lawism). It is a great catch-all term for the various know-nothing / contrarian / populist movements of our time, many of which we discuss on a regular basis in this blog.

Espabilarse

If you look up espabilado / a in the dictionary, it will give you options like awake, smart, sharp. It is roughly the opposite of cuñado. Spanish also gives you the option of turning the noun into a verb. Espabilarse roughly means “getting your act together.” This translation isn’t quite right, though, because it also carries the sense of becoming more clever or playing at a higher level, maybe even becoming a crack. “Sharpen up” gets you closer. It’s one of those words that gets borrowed a lot in multi-lingual families: “You need to espabilarte right now!”

Sobremesa

It probably says a lot about Spanish culture that people here need a word to refer to hanging around the dinner table after a meal putting the world to rights over coffee. The dictionary says that sobremesa roughly translates as “table talk,” but I think it is more than that. When I think of a sobremesa, I think of weekend lunches stretching into the evening as people keep the conversation going for hours and hours.

You might be wondering what any of this has to do with thinking critically about the news and current affairs. I think pretty much the whole point of the blog is to provide you with arguments to help a friendly but annoying cuñado to espabilarse when you are both in the middle of a long and involved sobremesa!

Do you speak any other languages? Are there any words you would like to borrow in English? Or any words in English that are used (or misused) in other tongues? The comments are open. See you next week!

Previously on Sharpen Your Axe

Spanish music

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