Blogs » School Daze » Chronicles of Puerto Rico: Catching Buses and Babies in Spanish

Subscribe


2
 
Chronicles of Puerto Rico: Catching Buses and Babies in Spanish
By erodriguez in School Daze
June 25, 2009

It’s at gatherings like the National Association of Hispanic Journalists that I come to appreciate the beauty of my second language. Latinos are made up of different ethnicities, dialects and nations of people united mostly by one common denominator – our language.

But even this presents some difficulties after years of linguistic development and cultural influences in different countries. Puerto Rico was a just reminder to this Mexican-American to never even take my Spanish for granted.

¿Donde cojo el guagua? in Puerto Rico means where can I catch the bus. In other Latin cultures this could be a reason for calling the police. Cojer in an everyday context can mean “to catch or grab a hold of.” But in other countries it’s a lewd form of sex which and English translation that rhymes with tuck. Get the idea? In the wrong part of the world, this translates as where do I have sex with a baby?

Other interesting Puerto Rican Spanish translations: Jugo de China – Also known as orange juice or jugo de naranja in everyday Spanish but translates as Chinese juice in English.

Bichos – In common Spanish known as bugs, roaches, mosquitoes, etc. but in Puerto Rico means a man’s sex organ. So, don’t tell housekeeping in Puerto Rico I have bichos in my room that are biting me!