Ten Dangerous Cognates

Some words in the course of history, while retaining a similar spelling, diverge in meaning from related languages. For these lexical black sheep the French coined false amies, “false friends.” Deception, for example, has the Spanish counterpart decepción, both deriving from the Latin decipere, “to deceive,” but in Spanish it denotes disappointment.

Here are the top ten false friends, falsos amigos:

1. Molestar has nothing to do with the predatory act of molestation. Molestar is to bother, to annoy. It is often used in the expressions no molestes, no me molestes, “don’t bother, leave me alone.”
2. Divertir is not to divert but to entertain. Divert is desviar.
3. Publicidad is not free publicity, it is paid advertisement.
4. Agresivo, as in una ejecutiva agresiva is not an aggressive businesswoman but one who, unable to take no for an answer, gives clients a beating. Un hombre agresivo con las mujeres is not the gregarious player who charms ladies impetuously, but a ruffian who batters them. Aggressive is emprendedor, audaz, dinámico.
5. Embarazada is not embarrassed but pregnant. Embarrassed is avergonzada. During an official visit to Mexico, an American President claimed to be muy embarazado por no hablar español, “very pregnant for not speaking Spanish,” prompting an anonymous diplomat to send him a pink teddy bear, un osito de peluche rosado.
6. Introducir shares with the English verb “to introduce” the sense of bringing in and beginning, as in Colón introdujo el tabaco en Europa, “Columbus introduced tobacco in Europe.” It is not used, however, to introduce people. Pedro le introduce a María, for example, has vulgar sexual overtones, as introducir also means to penetrate. The verb presentar is used to introduce people, as in Pedro le presenta a María, “Pedro introduces María to him/her.”
7. Pretender has nothing to do with facking, it means trying, as in Julia pretende asistir a Harvard, “Julia is trying to go to Harvard.” To pretend is fingir.
8. Destituido is not destitute, but removed from office, as in el presidente corrupto fue destituido por el congreso, “the corrupt President was removed from office by Congress.” Destitute, the state of extreme poverty, is indigente, as in los ex presidentes corruptos rara vez son indigentes, “former corrupt presidents are seldom destitute.”
9. Once is eleven. Once, as in the song, for once in my life, is una vez, as in the song, solamente una vez, amé en la vida, solamente una vez, y nada más, “only once I loved, only once and never again.”
10. Capable is spelled exactly as the adjective of aptitude capable, but it denotes a propensity or a state of readiness to be castrated. Capable is capaz.

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Media Spanish: A Global Spanish-language Newspaper

If it’s not broken, why fix it? Right? Not really, not when it comes to newspapers. El PAIS used that rational to undergo a transformation. EL PAIS is Spain’s most influential newspaper with a daily circulation of 400.000.

Broken = roto (literally), for something that is not working = dañado. El carro está dañado.
Fix = reparar, arreglar.
Right = ¿no? ¿Sí? ¿Veradad?
Not when it comes to = no en el caso de.
Newspaper = periódico, diario.
Daily = diario.
Circulation = tirada, circulación.

Founded 31 years ago, like newspapers worldwide, EL PAIS faces a harsh reality: Newspapers no longer are the information source for younger readers. But increasing readership was not a concern when a number of journalists were asked: What would EL PAIS look like if it were born today? Behind our transformation is not a desire to sell more, the publishers explained, but offering a better product that attracts younger readers.

Founded = fundado.
Face = confrontar.
Worldwide = en el mundo entero.
Source = fuente.
News = Noticias.
Younger = más joven. Older = mayor.
Readership = lectores, público, audiencia.
Journalist = periodista.
Publisher = Editor.
Editor = Redactor.
To have in mind = tener en mente.

Great Spanish and Latin American writers have passed through the pages of EL PAIS. Garcia Marquez, Javier Marias and Vargas Llosa come to mind. And EL PAIS has been a witness and player in the democratization of Spain, a partner in its modernization. But times have changed. Young journalist Pablo Gimón puts it quite emphatically: A newspaper today can’t be the same as it was thirty years ago. To ask a reader to get out of his house and go buy a copy at a kiosk, detour from his job coming home, and pay a Euro… You can’t offer him the same information he got the previous day on the radio, from the news on TV, from the three or four websites that he sees at work, and free tabloids handed out at the metro. Before you would buy El PAIS and it was your source of information. That has changed: now people buy a newspaper already having much information.

Have passed = han pasado.
Has been = ha sido.
Witness = testigo. Related words: Testify = atestiguar, declarar. Testimony = testimonio. Testicles = (evidence of maleness) testículos.
Times have changed = los tiempos han cambiado.
Puts it = lo pone.
Emphatically = de manera enfática, contundente.
Detour = desviarse.
Pay = pagar.
Websites = sitios, páginas.
Gets = obtiene.
Buy = comprar.

Like good Jesuits, the chosen journalists turned to the readers and asked their own questions: What changes they couldn’t tolerate? What was disposable? What was missing? Were they tired of reading? There was no time for reading? Public response can be summarized thus: It was not true people no longer had time for newspapers, but they didn’t have time for old news. Didn’t the poet say the problem with drunks was repeating what everyone knew? Newspapers needed to change the way they told their stories. Newspapers needed to be more reflective, have more analysis and be interactive.

Turned to = se dirigieron.
Disposable = desechable.
Missing = hacer falta.
Tired = cansados.
Old news = noticias pasadas.
The way they tell their stories = la manera que reportan las noticias.

And the Corporation? El PAIS is part of the conglomerate Prisa. The Corporation wants to reach the younger members of society and a global market. We want to capture an educated elite in Latin America, the sort won over by The Economist in that magazine's transformation from a British to a world-wide publication, said Juan Luis Cebrian, Prisa's chief executive officer. This is about having a global editorial point of view, about not feeling ourselves to be a Spanish newspaper but an Ibero-American newspaper.

Conglomerate = conglomerado.
Capture = alcanzar, capturar.
The sort = el tipo, la calse.
Global point of bview = un punto de vista editorial global, universal, internacional.

EL PAIS already publishes an edition in Buenos Aires, Mexico and Brazil, and now plans to publish one in Miami and Colombia. On Sunday, October 21, the new EL PAIS hit the stands. The new EL PAIS is the Spanish-language Herald Tribune. The first evidence of the change is the accent over the Í, the accent that destroys the diphthong is coming back in PAÍS.

Publish = publicar.

Hit the stand = Estará en circulación.

The Art of Seduction... In Spanish

Raul Guerrero salonespanol.com

Seducing is art, and survival instinct. Some Spanish-speakers prefer the word coquetear (flirt) or bacilar (jest). Others opt for the traditional enamorar (to make him/her fall in love).

Seduction, la seducción, fortunately for those new to the Spanish-language, has more to do with body language than Spanish pluperfect subjunctives. It has to do, said one Dating Coach, with conniving, a verb with several Spanish equivalents: cranear (craneo is cranium, the verb would be to brain-out), confabular (connive), planificar (to plan), estrategizar (strategize), calcular (calculate), and the good old pensar (to think).

Ten Rules to Seduce [According to an unscrupulous Dating Coach]

1. Don’t talk about yourself. Listen. No hable de usted mismo. Escuche.
2. Work on your sense of humor. Laughter is great aphrodisiac. Trabaje en su sentido de humor. La risa es un gran afrodisíaco.
3. Show confidence. Nietzsche said: All swindlers have in common the air of total self-confidence while in the act of deception. Demuestre confianza. Nietzsche dijo: Todos los embusteros tienen en común un aire de confianza total durante el acto del engaño.
4. Cultivate mystery. Don’t play all your cards at once. But exuding an aura of mystery is not the same as being mysterious. Mystery is challenging. A mysterious person is melodramatically tacky. Cultive el misterio. No muestre todas su cartas de una vez. Pero emanar un aire de misterio no es lo mismo que parecer misterioso. El misterio es un desafío. Una persona misteriosa es melodramática y cursi.
5. Be unpredictable. Use the technique of interrupted stimulus. Shower the object of your desire with attention one day, but the next present yourself indifferent. Be bold. If the moment is right (emphasis on knowing the right moment) kiss instead of asking can I kiss you? Like Machiavelli advised a young friend: It’s better to be impetuous than prudent because women want the audacious rather than the cerebral (hence the expression I love as a friend). Sea impredecible. Use la t’ecnica del estímulo interrumpido. Llene de atenciones al objeto de su deseo un día, y el próximo preséntese indiferente. Sea audaz. Si el momento es adecuado (énfasis en saber determinar que el momento es apropiado) bese en vez de preguntar: ¿Te puedo dar un beso? Como le aconsejo Machiaveli a un joven amigo: Es mejor ser impetuoso que prudente porque las mujeres buscan entregarse al audaz no al pensante (de ahí la expresión solo te quiero como amigo.)
6. It’s good to be nice, but a little bit of badness helps. Good girls love bad boys, and a good man goes crazy over a fame fatale. Remember Mae West: When I m good I am good, but when I am bad I’m better. Está bien ser bueno, pero no olvide ser un poquito malo o mala. Las chicas bien se enloquecen por los chicos malos. Y Los caballeros pierden la cabeza por las damas fatales. Recuerde lo que dijo Mae West: Cuando soy buena soy buena, pero cuando soy mala soy mejor.
7. Find the point of less resistance. We all have a weak spot, or as they say in Wall Street, we all have a price. Observe and then exploit. Encuentre el punto de menor resistencia. Todos tenemos un lado flaco, o como dicen en el mundo de los negocios, todo el mundo tiene un precio. Observe y explote.
8. Be clean, and if you can’t afford a good perfume, be odorless. The idea is to present the person you want to be, said a Love Coach at her $500 Getting a Husband Seminar. It’s all in the packaging, and impeccable hygiene is part of the package. But English writer Charlotte Higgins doesn't think you should waste hundreds and thousands of dollars to get a date. Forget all those modern guides to dating, she wrote, if you want to find a partner, the ancient Roman Poet Ovid can tell you all you need to know in his poem Ars Amatoria. He advised in his didactic poem (a how-to poem): Keep your nails pared, and dirt-free;/ Don't let those long hairs sprout in your nostrils,/ make sure your breath is never offensive/ Avoid the rank male stench that wrinkles noses... (if you are interested in the original Latin: et nihil emineant et sint sine sordibus ungues, inque caua nullus stet tibi nare pilus. nec male odorati sit tristis anhelitus oris, nec laedat nares uirque paterque gregis.) Hay que ser aseado, y si no puede comprar un buen perfume, es mejor presentarse sin olores. La idea es proyectar la persona que usted quiere ser, dijo una Asesora de Amor en su seminario Para Conseguir Marido, que cuesta $500. Todo está en la presentación, y una higiene impecable es parte del paquete. Pero la escritora británica Charlotte Higgins no está de acuerdo en gastar cientos y miles de dólares para encontrar pareja. Olvídense de todos esas guías para conseguir pareja, si quiere encontrar a su media naranja (that’s right, your half orange) el antiguo poeta romano Oviedo le dirá todo lo que necesita saber en su poema Ars Amatoria. Recomendó en su poema didáctico: Mantenga las uñas cortadas y sin mugre;/ No deje que salten esos pelos largos de la nariz, / asegúrese que su aliento nunca sea ofensivo./Evite la rancia pestilencia masculina que arruga la nariz.
9. Be romantic. It’s nice to be romantic, but not idiotically romantic. Another conniving master, M. de la Rochefoucauld, warned: A man in love can have outbursts of madness. To act crazy occasionally is sexy, but a clown seldom is. Sea romántico. Es lindo ser romántico, pero sin llegar a la idiotez. Otro maestro de la confabulación, M. de la Rochefoucauld, advirtió: Un hombre enamorado puede tener ataques de locura. Actuar con locura a veces puede ser sexy, pero la payasada rara vez lo es.
10. Know when no means no. War strategists always have advised to fight when a battle is winnable, but to withdraw when the battle is not winnable, and to do it gracefully fast. Always have an exit strategy. Entienda cuando no significa no. Los estrategas militares siempre han aconsejado pelear cuando una batalla es ganable, pero retirarse cuando no lo es, y hacerlo de manera rápida y con gracia. Siempre tenga una estrategia de salida.

The Environment
The line you use has to be environment-correct. If you are trekking up a steep mountain in Peru, and you like the young man caring for the hogs, go ahead and use the line: Qué lindo el marranito, y el dueño no se queda atrás (nice piglet, and the owners isn’t bad either.) Of course don’t use it in Manhattan. At a club in the city, the first step is eye contact. But don’t stare. Staring is the new stalking. Keep eye contact for two or three seconds. Dating Coaches say another telling signal is the direction the shoe points. If his shoe points to you, by all means cross the room and say Hola. What trasnpires next has also been the subject of numerous essays and even doctoral dissertations.

Diccionario
Environment = Ambiente.
Place = Lugar.
Eye contact = Cruzar la mirada, contacto ocular.
Stare = Quedarse viendo, mantener la mirada, mirar fijamente.
Stalking = Acechar, perseguir.
Signal = Señal.
Vibes = Vibraciones, corazonada.
Point = Apuntar, señalar.

Five Common Pick Up Lines in Spanish

Latins don't use pick up lines. In fact we don’t have a good translation for pick up lines. We have the piropo, which has the same etymology as pyrotechnic, that is explosion. Piropos are flirtatious remarks. Past generations went to poetic extremes trying to reach the heart of a lady with a piropo. Now piropos have degenerated to vulgar remarks. I asked fifty people to submit favorites. Here are the five finalists:

1. Me pareces una persona muy profunda. You strike me as very deep person.
2. Si cocinas como caminas, me engordo. If you cook as you walk, boy, I’ll get fat.
3. ¿Te invito un trago o prefieres subir a ver mis dibujos? Can I buy you a drink, or you prefer to come up to see my sketches?
4. I LOVE YOU en inglés, TI AMO en italiano, pero lo mucho que TE QUIERO, te lo digo en castellano.
5. No soy pirata, pero qué tesoro me encontré. I am not a pirate, but some treasure I found.

Of course, no Latin Lover, male or female, stands a chance if he or she can’t dance. Dancing is the single most important tool. So if you are considering spending $500 for a Love Seminar, let me dissuade you. Instead go and join a salsa class. It’s good for your health. Its’ fun. And the lights are dim, and forgiving. The great Ovid said in his Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love): Plain you may be, but at night you'll look fine to the tipsy: Soft lights and shadows will mask your faults.