GATO (ga-to) And now, the time has come to talk about one of those strikingly polysemic words Costa Ricans have -and use- in a variety of situations. Chances are, if you do speak Spanish, even at a beginner level, that this word is probably one of the first one hundred you […]
GALLITO (ga-ʝi-to) Most Costa Ricans have a thing for diminutives and, you probably know this by now, right? And chances are some of these words have already been incorporated into your Spanish language arsenal. Words like “momentito” (jiffy), or the much used “toquecito” (jiffy), chiquito/a (little boy/girl), and/or others ending in -ico […]
POLACO (po-la’-ko) So, in Spanish, we would use the words brasileño/brasileña to refer to a Brazilian national, for instance, -a male and a female in this case-. And the same word endings are used with most nationalities. So, it is no surprise that a national of, say, Poland, is called […]
NANDAYURE (nan-ða ʝu’-re) Being born and raised Costa Rican, my first Geography memories date back to elementary school, where our first Social Studies lessons would inevitably be linked to the country’s administrative division into provinces, cantons, and districts. And then, I first learned about Guanacaste, its people, traditions, music, and most […]
MARIA (ma-ɾi-a) According to a report by the U.S. Social Security Administration, James and Mary are the most popular given names for male and female babies born during the 1920-2019 period, with James with 4,735,694 occurrences and Mary with 3,265,105 occurrences. And it continues to be a very popular name […]
FERIA (fe-ɾja) So many things have changed along this pandemic. I mean, needless to say, the freedom and some of those things and habits we had -and took for granted- are just barely getting back to a somewhat similar -yet still distant- scenario. But, of course, having no certainty of […]
CHINCHIVI (tʃin-tʃi-bi) GUARO (wahr-oh) VINO DE COYOL (been-noh / day / coh-yohl) The geographical origin of Chicha, the fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage, is well-known and can be traced back to the Andes, in South America. Now, while it is still a matter of debate whether the place of origin […]
MEJENGA (me-xeŋ-ga) With soccer (or football, if you will) being the most popular sport in the world, and Costa Rica being a country which goes with the soccer flow, it is no wonder that this is one of the favorite outdoor and, more recently, indoor sports activities Costa Ricans and […]
PRESA (pɾe-sa) Have you ever tried learning a foreign language? If yes, what would you say is (are) the most challenging aspect (s) of the learning process? Granted, it all depends on the complexity of the language per se, e.g., a Romance language, such as Spanish, which English has inherited dozens […]
GALLO PINTO (ga-ʝo pin-to) Have you ever been to a foreign country where your mother tongue is not the primary language spoken, and happened to be at a restaurant, or bar and, when seeing the menu, you notice the name of a given dish is not translated? One time? Two times? Dozens […]
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